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gmualum08

What's wrong with my Aloe Medusa? Help please..

GMUAlum08
9 years ago

Hi Everyone,

A week or so ago I noticed a bunch of ants on my tree aloe (medusa) which is still only about 3.5 feet tall. After watering it on Saturday, I noticed some sap running down the trunk. Upon further inspection I noticed the trunk had a crack in it at the top (just below the main head). Fast forward 36 hour and it looks worse than before. The crack has expanded upwards and that section of the trunk is mushy.

I'm not sure if I have an infestation of mealy bugs or aphids or if this is a result of over watering? I live in SoCal and hadn't watered the plant in a couple weeks so I don't think it is over watering.

This is a cutting from the aloe medusa that grew at Dr. Seus' home in La Jolla so its very important that I save this tree.

I bought a systemic wash that is designed to take care of pests that could be invading the tree but I really hope its not too far gone at this point.

The base of the tree is still rock solid, its just part of the upper trunk that is having problems. The tree looks otherwise healthy but am afraid that won't be the case for long.

Should I go ahead and use the systemic wash? It will require me to water it more even though it was just watered so I don't want to make things worse by doing this just yet.

I've attached a picture that shows the cracking at the top of the trunk. Please provide advice on what this could be and what I need to do to save the tree.

Thanks!

Comments (6)

  • GMUAlum08
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Just as a follow up, it appears the rot around the top of the trunk is spreading. This picture is around to the right side of where the first picture was taken. I pealed back a bit of the soft bark to see what I was dealing with and this is what I found.

    I'm almost certain this isn't a case of over watering because the bottom of the trunk is fine and right now this is isolated to the top of the trunk just below the main head.

    I've gone ahead and applied a systemic pesticide. Now I'm not sure if I need to cut out the rot or just let it be?

    This post was edited by GMUAlum08 on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 19:57

  • LilBit7765
    9 years ago

    I would cut it so it doesn't spread further. You need to cut down until you see healthy tissue. I would clean the blade with alcohol after every cut. Then put fungicide on the cut. Either way if you don't remove it, it's going to spread. Sorry you're going through this.

  • GMUAlum08
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, I went ahead and cut it with a clean knife and sprayed it with Fungicide after I was done. I woke up this morning and sprayed it again with some fungicide. After a quick examination I didn't see that the rot had spread so that's good news. It seemed to have spread rather quickly over the past 48 hours prior.

    Do you think Aphids could have started causing the rot like that?

  • LilBit7765
    9 years ago

    Others will have to chime in on that one. I greatfully have never had to deal with those little buggers. But I think that when the crack opened (however that happened) it allowed more moisture to get in causing the rot. How did the crack happen?

  • GMUAlum08
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    ^^I have no idea. I was admiring the tree on Saturday evening and noticed that there was sap oozing out of a crack that wasn't there the day before.

    Nothing unusual happened to the tree that would have caused the crack. The only thing I can think of is an aphid infestation. The ants that I saw 1-2 weeks prior were just a precursor to the aphids.

    I'm new to all of this so when I spotted the ants all over the tree a week or two ago I didn't think anything of it. I probably could have prevented all of this had I acted earlier but hopefully I still caught it earlier enough that the tree will survive

  • Daniel Gledhill
    7 years ago

    GMUAlum08 did it make it? Do you Know what happened

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