I’ve got this one, but I don’t know what it is. Can you identify it, so I can find out how to look after it?

Let’s see what you’ve got growing too.

Some kind of aloe?

That’s not a proper cactus – some kind of succulent. And not too well looked after either…

You’ll need free draining soil/peat – with a higher than usual (flor plants) percentage of gravel – B and Q do a nice specialist range in small bags that makes it easy. Do pot it on after removing the dead spurs/leaves to a pot about an inch or so bigger.

Water 2x a week a little more when it’s hot. October to March really reduce the watering so that the soil stays slightly damp and nothing more. For your first time sit it in a saucer of water to give it a good drink after potting on.

In spring give it 1/4 strength (ie a 1/4 of what they recommend) tomato feed every week, in summer every other week. None in autumn or winter.

Yes.. I do know.. damn.. had loads of those as a kid. It is an aloe, but I forget which. It’ll produce loads of babies and a flower spike with pinky yellow droplet flowers on it.

EDIT:

http://www.succulentguide.com/cactus/?start=-10&genus=Aloe&species=&PHPSESSID=5ada38d5ec7063fd64221623ca674bb8

Get stuck in 🙂

definitely an Aloe, i think it is Aristata. Got a few kicking around.

As for care, they are pretty bombproof i have managed to get them through winters outside when i ran out of windowsill space. Your meant to use a fairly free draining compost but i have used multipurpose ok.

Only problem i have had is that i had some rot off at the base.

Aloe Ferox possibly. I’ve got about 50 cacti/succulents ranging from minatures to a 5 footer, some nice caudex forming succulents too.

mrmo I’d say your soil isn’t draining well enough, i use 50% compost, 25% sharp sand and 25% horti grit, works well.

schrickvr6, i think it was an infection, it was a few years ago and i destroyed the afflicted plants.

As for it being Ferox, i am not convinced every Ferox i have seen or grown has been a single stemed monster with much more prominent spines.

Aloe Ferox

Aloe Aristata

Bad feng shui.

Do you really want all that shar chi flying around?

Yep you’re right mo. Maybe a STW cacti cutting swapshop?

Saccades +1

They really need good drainage and too much water can cause the brown/dying out. Especially if it sits in too wet of a sail. Gravel/sand as part of the planting mix.

well i have got a pile of kalanchoe daigremontiana, and i mean pile, the number of plant lets it produces is incredible! and i have some Aloe species seedlings i acquired on holiday, not sure which species though.

Great, thanks for the good advice.

It hasn’t been watered for 12+ months, so I’ll give it a few sips and get it repotted in the right soil.

http://www.succulentguide.com/cactus/?genus=Aloe&PHPSESSID=5ada38d5ec7063fd64221623ca674bb8

For anyone else with an unidentified aloe !