@peettee79 My gosh you have loads of Aloes, they make me drool. I've tried quite a few here in FL, but they couldn't take the humidity and eventually died on me.

The same thing sometimes happens in the summers here while my aloes are outside. It's just so humid that some don't do well. The larger ones with tighter, more compact, leaves tend to do worse because they collect the fog/mist/dampness more.

If the plants are smaller, or have looser leaf arrangements, they do better. I think that's why many Haworthias that have tight leaves do fine--they're just too small to accumulate and hold very much water.

Here are my baby Lomatophyllums from Daisy:



Their growth has slowed down a little bit just because the length of daylight is decreasing, so I have decreased watering. They have now dried out completely at least twice, so I know they are capable of handling it.

I'm probably going to repot them in the next couple weeks. I'm not exactly sure when, but it depends on how fast they grow and when I can find (or make) the right containers.

Such lovely Aloes everyone!

@Baja_Costero: I was watching this thread and hoping someone would post a photo of their A conifera! Yours is gorgeous! And about to flower? Do you have any more photos of it? I've been on a continuous search for information and images and haven't found much. My guess is that it is a slow grower? If you have any info to share, I'm all ears.

I got the one below in July. It was outside during the summer in full sun and was a deep purple red. It's now indoors in its winter spot by the window. It looked happy this summer and I think it looks healthy now but it hasn't grown at all (or, maybe the stalks extended a few millimeters). I just wonder what to expect out of this guy...

Nice looking plant! And



Yes, I have a million photos of this aloe. It's one of my favorites to take pictures of, both the leaves (that blue-red-purple thing) and the flowers (which have a lovely aroma). You may find your plant too light starved in the dark Oregon winters to bloom, but that's normally when it flowers, and it's reliable for that here in full sun.

My plant is self-fertile and relatively slow from seed. Once they get to about the size of yours (maybe 3 years from seed), they don't get a whole lot bigger, or taller, except over the course of several years. Your plant might eventually need a pot one size bigger, but probably not more than that.

You shouldn't see much vertical growth (which is a good thing) unless the plant is in low light. You cannot provide too much light, especially in winter, so try to find your sunniest south-facing window and put the plant right in front of it.

On to an overabundance of conifera pictures....

Leaves




Flowering



Flower closeups



Fruit and seeds (which are relatively small for the genus)

Awesome!! Baja, thank you so much. Your plants are so perfect and compact. Those colors! And flowers! Wow. I will have to seek out a flowering conifera in person so that I can smell it Okay, I hear from you slow and not vertical growth- that's good. Thank you!

Sounds like you understand what I'm up against light-wise in Oregon. I have huge windows in a SW corner apartment but there is just no sun for six months out of the year....dark skies with low gloomy clouds. My succulents are all crammed right up against the windows but they still suffer. I have an A arborescens that grows nice and tight all summer but then gets a lengthened stem during the winter months. It can't be helped here, I think I'll give the conifera my prime spot- will require switching places with a cactus. But it sounds like if the aloe wants to grow now, then it should get the best light that I have available.

Aloe blue elf blooms have lost their color since I brought it in for the winter.

Interesting. They were red before?

Here's a barberae seedling with two trunks that I grew from seed I collected at a B&B near here. I harvested the fruit prematurely, while it was still green, but it ripened just fine on my desk. (3 gallon/25cm pot)

Conifera is one of my faves, awesome stressed colours....I finally had success with hybrid seed of this popping up on the heat mat, fingers crossed for some influence from Alooides/thraskii and Marlothii that got the brush run over them.

What are the largest and smallest species of aloe? Do any of you keep either?

I think I know the answers, just curious.

Bowiea is pretty small for species, and Barberae is the largest, however Ive seen photos of Excelsa which was pretty damn tall, possibly taller than Barb...
I keep all three...but they are not huge yet.
When it comes to hybrids, I have a Dick Wright hybrid that has maxed out at the size of a 50 cent piece (50mm)and is around 5-6 years old so Im assuming its reached its full potential ?
I will attempt to find a photo ......
Edit. Found it....for scale my thumb is 3/4" diameter

I also think Aloe barberae is the largest growing Aloe. Maybe not the tallest, but if you look at the giant circumference of the trunk of some of the mature specimens they have to be the largest. I have a hard time growing small aloes here in terms of getting them through summer. Also what does make for the smallest aloe? The smallest single rosette, but the species can be offsetting and clumping or does it have to be a solitary plant? Even with that distinction I am not coming up with something realistic as I am sure most of the table top hybrids I grow are still pretty large. And of course you are asking for species not hybrids... or are hybrids allowed to compete?

The Definitive Guide groups the aloes by size, and the last one in the book is barberae (which it lists to 18m or more), preceded by eminens (15m), pillansii (10m), and volkensii (9m). These are sort of theoretical maxima, to the extent they represent an unusually good site in habitat. I would imagine A. barberae grows to different sizes depending on the climate, mainly how much water it gets.

All seed grown from the same parent - Dracula Blood

Rammy got some good trunkage befor its first split, should be a nice specimen in a few years time

First bloom on my 'yellow flower' Aloe arborescens.





Pete, You have posted many great photos.
One looks like a 'noid' I have is my plant possibly?
Aloe deltoideodonta var. fallax?







Another 'noid'...could it be Aloe Snow Storm?

Aloe juvenna is blooming, just came inside Saturday.

Tiffany, I have Aloe 'Minne Belle', (Ed Hummel Hybrid of A. juvenna) which for all matters looks to me the same as A. juvenna has never bloomed for me. They are about 3 years old. Did you have to wait awhile for yours?

Nice plants and flowers, everybody.

Some nice bicolored aloe flowers here...



These 2 are sibling hybrids (same mother, same father):



These 4 are stepsiblings (same pod, a couple different fathers):




This one is also a hybrid of the same species as above (africana), but with a different individual and pollinated in the other direction:



These 2 are closely related:



and this one a hybrid of the former (lutescens) with a red-flowered plant



These 2 are also closely related:

I think I got ripped off again on Aloe polyphylla seeds. Purchased from USA. Sent tiny seeds the size of black pepper or a dot. I have good near vision and can see them well but don't look like any aloe seeds I have ever seen. Soaking them and will see what develops if anything. So hard to get these seeds.


They were generous with the seeds anyway. Purchased 6 seed to a bag and they sent 11. But if wrong, who cares how many they sent.
What they are suppose to look like;