Home»Cactus - Succulents»Information About Aloe
Aloe polyphylla [ AL - oh , politico - ee - FIL - uh ] is an evergreen succulent repeated plant type belonging to the Asphodelaceae family .
This plant originate by nature in southerly Africa in the Maluti mountains locate in Lesotho , where it is the national plant .
The specific epithet , polyphylla , is a combination of two Romance words . Poly signify many , and phylla mean leaves .
When mature these aloe plants contain between 50 and 100 leave .
You may hear it called its mutual names let in :
In its instinctive environment , the plant grow in rough , mineral - ample soil , from rocky crevices , and on high , grassy mountain incline and is subjected to a generous amount of winter snowfall .
The plant is now considered endangered because the conditions patterns it take to thrive have changed dramatically .
Other Interesting Aloe Varieties :
Aloe Polyphylla Care
Size & Growth
Spiral Aloe ’s rosettes are made up of five course of sharp gray - green leaves .
Each of the quarrel contains 15 – 30 item-by-item leaves , which create a rose window as bombastic as 2′ foot across .
Each Crown Aloe plant life may develop to be a metrical unit high and 2′ feet encompassing .
This cold - hardy , stemless aloe succulent mature in a beautiful spiraling establishment and may spiral either to the leftover or the right .
Individual folio of the plant are quite sharp and menacing .
South African native people ( the Basotho ) believe the direction of the helix indicates the plant ’s grammatical gender , but the fact is the flowers of the plant are bisexual .
Flowering & Fragrance
Spiral Aloe produces pretty pinkish-orange - pink bloom in the springtime . Blooms does not happen right away .
This slow - grow flora takes many long time to attain maturity , but once it does , it will produce a long peak spike with an abundant number of ruby-red or pinkish flowers .
When the blossom are pollinated , they grow many germ .
Unfortunately , in the plants , natural setting , the birds who cross-pollinate these flowers are also endangered .
Whether pollenation could be carried out by other species of doll such as hummingbirds is obscure .
Light & Temperature
This is an outdoor succulent and does not do well growing indoors .
It is quite a cold hardy , and grownup plants can endure temperatures down to 20 ° degrees Fahrenheit ( -6 ° C ) .
In its native nursing home of South Africa , Spiral Aloe endures temperature of 5 ° degree Fahrenheit ( -15 ° C ) and is often blanket by snow .
Although this is a cold - hardy succulent , unripened plants are not as frigid intrepid .
If temperature drop below 30 ° degrees Fahrenheit ( -1 ° C ) in your expanse , you should keep the young plant in container to be brought indoors during the wintertime .
You may finally be able to transition them into full - time outdoor development over time .
The plant can do well in a wide variety of hardiness zone up to USDA geographical zone 10a .
These plants like vivid sun for at least six hour a Clarence Day . The south - facing emplacement provide the good sun .
rough , hot full Dominicus will kill them .
Watering & Feeding
Spiral Aloe is unusual in its need for water and intellectual nourishment .
Its root system is shallow , and it is conform to its aboriginal land where the soil is rich , and rainwater and snowfall are abundant .
For this rationality , it ’s important to provide very aggressively draining grime and water and feed this strange succulent frequently .
A six calendar month , slow - sack fertilizermixed into the soil at the time of planting will take charge of its indigence throughout the first growing season .
If you repot the plant annually , this is all you postulate to do .
For plants having been in the same hatful for more than a year , apply a liquid fertiliser a brace of times during the grow season .
There is no need to thin by one-half as you would with most succulent because this works like frequent watering , so the fertilizer will be washed aside over time .
Soil & Transplanting
Plant Spiral Aloe on a hill of well - debilitate ground and at a slant so water runs through it , the humiliated leaf will not become waterlogged .
The melodic theme is to mimic the plant ’s natural setting .
It usually grows in the natural state on a extortionate gradient with loose , aggressively draining substrate .
It receive an ample amount of rainfall and Charles Percy Snow , which runs off quick .
In these two videos , a landscaper perform criminal maintenance and repots a gigantic Spiral Aloe .
Grooming & Maintenance
As the plant grows , the bottom leaves will dry out out and die off .
It ’s important not to take away these leaves untimely as the works re - absorbs the wet and nutrients from them to enable it to make more foliage and bloom .
Wait until the leaves are almost whole absorbed , and all stay are the juiceless , papery thin kayoed husk .
How To Propagate Spiral Aloe
Spiral Aloe is not as easy to propagate as most succulent .
It will not grow from leaf carving but will produce offsets . It will also grow from seeds .
When growing from offshoot , the key to success is patience .
You must take full care of your parent plant for several days and ensure its happiness .
Eventually , the aloe will produce first which you should carve up from the parent plant using a shrill , clean knife .
Be certain the pups are innocent of any loose crap and then simply lay them in a warm , well - activate location for a day or two to allow the cut to calloused over before replanting into their pots of well - draining soil .
Aloe Polyphylla Spiral Pest or Diseases
Crown Aloe may be dependent to depredation by snout mallet and aphid .
Proper planting , drainage , aeration , and lacrimation will help preclude aphids .
If snout beetles become problematic , water the flora with a systemic insect powder so the pests will consume as they feed on the plant .
Too much wet and humidity can stimulate fungous infections and root rot .
bar is far good than remedy in this instance .
Be sure to put up well - draining territory and plant the aloe in a slanted posture on a mound so spare water can runoff .
Is this plant toxic or poisonous?
In its homeland of South Africa , the Spiral Aloe is expose and revere .
It is used by the native mass as a medicine plant and a magical industrial plant .
Even so , Crown Aloe is not edible and is toxic to favorite and hoi polloi .
Be certain to protect yourself when handling your Spiral Aloe .
Remember the individual foliage are quite sharp , and the sap may be irritating .
Is this plant invasive?
This finicky , endangered aloe is not considered encroaching in any part of the United States or any other location .
It is struggling to survive in its native home ground , and anything we can do to help preserve the species is a in force thing .
Suggested Polyphylla Spiral Aloe Uses
These slow - maturate succulents make superb specimen pieces plant on a side , in a rock garden , or even vertically in a wall planter .
Always plant at an slant to check that rainwater drainpipe away from the crown freely .
