Aloidendron barberae ???

[Tracy]

I was looking for a post discussing Aloidendron (formerly Aloe) barberae as I have something I acquired as A barberae which isn't performing as expected.  I'm successfully growing Aloidendron ramossisma, pilansii and the Hercules hybrid, but the one Aloidendron bought as A barbarae never seems to look good.  I have moved it around the garden but can't find the right spot for it.  I tried putting it where it got maximum heat reflected off my paver driveway, to spots with a little shade but the leaves always seem to brown tip.  I have grown this one in a pot for about 3 years.  I'm curious about other's experience with this species as compared to the other Aloidendron.  I have even begun to wonder if is Aloidendron barberae, a hybrid or possibly even Aloidendron tongaense, formerly Aloe tongaensis which might explain my difficulties with it.  Please share your thoughts.

[Marius]

Hi Tracy. 

Im surprised that you battle with A barberae. Especially because you grow A ramossisima and A pillansii successfully. I have not been able to keep A ramossisima alive and Hercules is growing but looks terrible. A barberae for me is extremely fast and robust. The tips brown after a cold winter, but the plants recover rapidly. Both my Ordinary barberae grew two meters tall in three years and my “dwarf” or Mozambican barberae is a meter tall in three years. All three of the above were tiny stemless plants when I planted them. 

Maybe try to get another barberae. All three mine are grown from a piece I broke off a large plant. 

Good luck with it. It is definitely a worthwhile species. 

[Tracy]

9 minutes ago, Marius said:

The tips brown after a cold winter,

Thanks for the feedback Marius.  The tips of mine are browning now, during our summer months, which is perplexing.  The other thing I have wondered about is if it just needs to be in the ground as opposed to a pot.  I'll have to post the other plant that I bought as Aloidendron barberae which looks much better but is still pretty slow compared to the A. Hercules or Aloidendron ramosissmum.  It too is in a pot, but doesn't have nearly as narrow leaves or trunk.

[Marius]

Barberae is definitely the fastest grower of the lot. 

Here are pics I found (and cropped) of my one barberae showing growth every year. 

[Marius]

This is the A barberae (Mozambique dwarf) flowering this year for the first time. It has an orange flower compared to the red / pinkish flowers of SA barberae. 

[Tracy]

Here is the other one I am growing.  This one has red teeth as opposed to the white on the other one.  I'm not sure if both colors are normal or if I have an incorrect id.  The plants look significantly different in growth habit.

[Marius]

This one doesn’t look like A barberae to me. I’ve only ever seen them with white teeth. As young plants barberae crown is very upright as opposed to the more horizontal crown on the one in the pics. 

[Marius]

This one reminds me of A thraskii 

[tacobender]

I have tried 2, the extreme heat and humidity of summer kills them. Hercules, goliath and many other tree type aloes are doing fine.

[Marius]

A barberae comes from the warm, high rainfall and humid east coast of South Africa. It loves that climate. 

A dichotoma, A ramossisima & A pilansi comes from the hot , dry and low humidity of the semi desert and desert areas of South Africa’s West Coast. 

It does not make sense that A barberae dies in climatic conditions similar to its native habitat. It could be that your A barberaes are misidentified. 

[Silas_Sancona]

11 minutes ago, Marius said:

A barberae comes from the warm, high rainfall and humid east coast of South Africa. It loves that climate. 

A dichotoma, A ramossisima & A pilansi comes from the hot , dry and low humidity of the semi desert and desert areas of South Africa’s West Coast. 

It does not make sense that A barberae dies in climatic conditions similar to its native habitat. It could be that your A barberaes are misidentified. 

Interesting..  In Southern CA, these are planted widely and get massive.. Specimens in the Huntington Botanical's desert garden, and up in Santa Barbara are among some of the biggest.

Oddly enough, don't recall seeing any while living in Florida. Have always wondered if the absence of A. barberae there is more of a soil issue rather than it not liking a climate somewhat similar to the Eastern Cape of South Africa.  Would have thought they would be a bit more of a challenge in cooler/drier ..and not as wet.. California.

[Marius]

Maybe it’s the perception of gardeners in Florida that a succulent won’t work there. 

Even though A barberae comes from the SA East coast it does well in the hot, dry inland areas with supplemental water. The only limiting factor for it is frost tolerance. Heavy frosts will kill it. Mine got light to moderate frost this winter and were damaged, but being fast growers they will recover fast. 

[Silas_Sancona]

4 minutes ago, Marius said:

Maybe it’s the perception of gardeners in Florida that a succulent won’t work there. 

Even though A barberae comes from the SA East coast it does well in the hot, dry inland areas with supplemental water. The only limiting factor for it is frost tolerance. Heavy frosts will kill it. Mine got light to moderate frost this winter and were damaged, but being fast growers they will recover fast. 

Very good points..

[msporty]

Agree with Marius — the first looks like A. barbarae and the second one is something else...

 

A. barbarae will grow much faster in the ground — mine did nothing in pots for years and Then blew up once in the ground. They send out a dense starburst pattern of roots — something a pot can’t accommodate. 
 

The biggest question is what do you want it to do in your garden? They get huge with time...

[tacobender]

On 9/17/2020 at 9:27 PM, Marius said:

A barberae comes from the warm, high rainfall and humid east coast of South Africa. It loves that climate. 

A dichotoma, A ramossisima & A pilansi comes from the hot , dry and low humidity of the semi desert and desert areas of South Africa’s West Coast. 

It does not make sense that A barberae dies in climatic conditions similar to its native habitat. It could be that your A barberaes are misidentified. 

I think they were legitimate barberae. Some years even my dichotoma gets summer damage not this year though. For 2 sometimes 3 months here the temperature stays between 88 to 110 day and night with extreme humidity.  Unbearable. Winters are just fine with 50 degree lows. A lot of stuff just melts in the summer. If I find another maybe I'll try again.

[Marius]

@tacobenderTry it again it really is worth growing. Good luck. 

[Tracy]

On 9/18/2020 at 7:58 AM, msporty said:

Agree with Marius — the first looks like A. barbarae and the second one is something else...

 

A. barbarae will grow much faster in the ground — mine did nothing in pots for years and Then blew up once in the ground. They send out a dense starburst pattern of roots — something a pot can’t accommodate. 
 

The biggest question is what do you want it to do in your garden? They get huge with time...

Since I already have the one large Aloidendron Hercules in the ground, I didn't really want to put the other larger species in the ground except eventually my Aloidendron pillansii.  I don't really have space in the ground for a barberae as well.  I actually bought the Aloidendron barberae as a potential guerrilla planting in the common area for a development across the side street from me.  Some neighbors lobbied the city on getting large boxed trees planted along the walkway running along side this infill project that used to be greenhouse operations.  A couple of years after the development was completed, residents started ripping out large trees that were in the common area which the city required the developer to plant which didn't make some of us happy after the battle to get them in and provide a little buffer for the high density project.  Some neighbors up the way guerrilla planted a couple of small Draceana draco, and I added one across from my lot after trees were removed.  There is another spot that may host the Aloidendron barberae someday as well, I just wanted to get it larger in the pot and looking better first.  Maybe it will have to go in "as is".  The trees pulled out weren't small, they were 48" boxed trees when planted in 2014 and they are in a city easement for a winding sidewalk.