animaux wrote:

On Thu, 20 Mar 2003 17:43:25 -0600, kate wrote:

The leafing out is just beginning. 3 out of 5 years we'll get a frost to
kill all the blossoms so no peaches, but I would bring them back in if
the temperature dropped into the 30's. (I wasn't sure they would survive
inside - very little sun, but 2 plants became 14 so everyone got an aloe
plant for Christmas.)

You can help get some peaches by choosing trees which have longer chill hour
requirements. They will bloom later. In Texas where I live I have 'Dixieland' which
has 400 chill hours. Chill hours is the amount of hours the temperature is under 45
degrees.

Interesting. This is an old tree and the woodchuck usually gets the
peaches when there are some. 45 degrees doesn't affect the blooms on
this tree - it's the freeze that gets them. Am I misunderstanding?

They're potted and back inside and looking better already.

Glad to hear it.

I agree with everyone else that it is too early to put out your aloe, because
of the possibility of cold temperatures in your Zone 6 location.

But, your initial observation of leaf bleaching happened on a warm day. The
cause may have been sunburn.

Aloe plants sunburn easily, when they are brought outside after a prolonged
stay in the relatively dark indoors.

I keep my large, 10-year-old aloe in a sun porch, and put it into a
partially-shaded location in the spring. Despite this, the skin usually
bleaches, then turns brownish, before returning to its usual happy green after
a couple of weeks.

Wendy
Wilmington, DE (Zone 7, aloe still indoors)

Wendy B G wrote:

They're potted and back inside and looking better already.

Glad to hear it.

I agree with everyone else that it is too early to put out your aloe, because
of the possibility of cold temperatures in your Zone 6 location.

But, your initial observation of leaf bleaching happened on a warm day. The
cause may have been sunburn.

Aloe plants sunburn easily, when they are brought outside after a prolonged
stay in the relatively dark indoors.

I keep my large, 10-year-old aloe in a sun porch, and put it into a
partially-shaded location in the spring. Despite this, the skin usually
bleaches, then turns brownish, before returning to its usual happy green after
a couple of weeks.

Wendy
Wilmington, DE (Zone 7, aloe still indoors)

Thanks Wendy - that sounds like exactly what happened. They're back to
their normal color now. Where I had them last year is actually pretty
shaded a good deal of the day, but not yet as the leaves aren't out on
the elms yet.

Kate (the aloes can stay in - I'm planting some seeds today!)