They do well in cool climates, I have seen them fully grown in San Francisco they seem to like the fog. and are easy to propagate, we do not do well with it here in zone 21 Calif. zone 10 planted out in the garden, Norma

Cactus Corner,

There are at least two folks here (Xerophyte and Paracelsus) who grow this plant very well. If you do a search for Aloe polyphylla at this forum, you can get lots of information on them. I can give you the benefit of my failures - you must keep the roots cool.

Some here know the whole story-but seed grown plants never divide or pup,I think-so you must have clonal plants. Not that it makes a difference I guess. You got more for your dollar though!
Keep them dry in the rosette is best,and never let go dry at the roots,but make sure air always reaches those roots-a loose mix is needed.

Can these be grown as a houseplant? Ever since I discovered their existence, I've wanted one!

Nancy

I agree that these multi-head plants did not occur before tissue cloning. I'm not sure if they are really branches off the same stem, or multiple plants that started out very small, but ended up in the same container. The price has fallen dramatically with the availability of the clones.

Houseplant? Sure, if you have a pot at least two-feet deep and three-feet in diameter. It's a high altitude (8000-10000') plant that thrives on UV light that is absent indoors. The plant grows fast, and is very big and heavy when mature in 6-7 years. The right growing conditions are critical. The zone 9b SF bay area is cool enough for the plant. Los Angeles seems to be too warm, especially for container growing.

Aloe polyphylla in my garden

{{gwi:537811}} {{gwi:537812}} {{gwi:537813}} {{gwi:537814}} {{gwi:537815}}

Woah. That is fantastic.

I haven't killed mine yet. It is just starting to get a good spiral going.
Anyways, this past weekend I saw 2 specimens for sale at an upper-end nursery. Each was planted in one of those plastic fake half wine barrel pots. And these plants filled the pots. Big. Didn't see a price.
Never seen such big ones for sale.

Thank you all for your valuable information and knowledge in your postings - a little story about me...

I found and joined gardenweb in 2001 - I was seriously into cacti and succulents since early 1990's - I had hundreds of plants in my collection - received many plant trades from members here - up until a divorce about 7 years ago - devastated I passed my entire collection of plants to family and friends in So Calif - I had to forgot about gardening to move on and heal. I believe I must have healed cause I got the green thumb recently and bought my first plant since the divorce - this Aloe Polyphylla, hope to start posting pictures and sharing with the forum more plants I collect - PS, moved from So California to Hawaii - alot of tropicals out here to get interested in, Aloha

Hi paracelsus,

Great looking polyphyllas!

Few questions:

--How long does it take to get polyphyllas that big with blooms?
--Did you get yours as a young or a mature plant?
--How much sun does your collection get?

p.s. I have few small ones planted - they get plenty of afternoon sun.

THx

Aloe polyphylla would be one of the worst choices for a houseplant :-)

Seed grown plants can become multiheaded. I found out the hard way. I had one that had its growth point rotted out from water that kept pooling in the rosette. Eventually it sprouted new shoots, but they didn't survive. I think I may have kept them too wet, not realizing that the water needs were greatly reduced with the loss of many older leaves.

These are alpine plants and are not suited for a typical desert climate. The root zone must be kept cool and moist.

x

cactus corner -

If I understand correctly, you're growing the Spiral Aloe in Hawaii. Any update? I'm in Hawaii and have a couple tissue-cloned seedlings and a bunch of seeds I'm trying to start. I'd like to hear how your plants fared in our climate.

If anyone has left and right spiraling plants to trade I would be able to get them seeds to a very rare plant native to Indonesia. Amorphophallus gigas and Amorphophallus decus-silvae.