Aloe aristata growing trunk?

I pulled off the decaying lower leaves and realised the cursed football plant is actually forming a rather nice trunk.

Has anyone grown aristata as a trunked version? @pete ?

I was wondering if instead of burying the stem in the soil I might want to try to grow it upwards. Just out of curiosity really

 

Mine have never grown a stem as such, they usually form offsets around the stem and just cluster.

 

How strange, I've never seen that, mine just form clumps. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

 

It is a bit unexpected, I usually grow Aristata as a sideways plant to give any amount of side shoots for any sudden pointy succulent needs.

This plant could in fact be quite old, I revived the original 18 years ago when we came to England and I found it abandoned in a kitchen corner. This stemmy part could be the old one, the tightness of the growth rings in the stem suggest they didn't form in a year or two.

The thing I find baffling is that often Aloe type plants flower and then die, leaving the sideshoots to continue the existence. Aristata, unfortunately, (the flowers drip nectar everywhere and attrack greenflies (and apparently hummingbirds) and in general make a mess and are of a most unattractive burnt orange colour ) flowers regularly but makes no indication of the main rosette dying.

 

I think Aloe aristata flowers are quite pretty, especially when there are several shoots, and I've never noticed nectar dripping from them, or greenfly anywhere near them.

 

I've never noticed aloe rosettes dying after flowering.
But semperviviums always do.

 

And many Aeoniums do too. I had a nice one called 'Black King Kong' and I gave quite a bit for it, but it died after flowering.

 

I tend to grow them in a cold frame or in sheltered positions outside all year, never noticed green fly or dripping nectar but that last one wouldn't be noticeable anyway.

 

The lesson there could be don't let single rosette aeoniums flower, they may produce offsets instead, perhaps.

 

Mine are houseplants and the nectar stains walls and curtains. Most annoying!

I'd love to grow Aeoniums and similar shaped plants outside, but the climate up here is just not for them. Even Lewisia keel over regardless how dry and sheltered I try to keep them.

Semprevivums are the only ones that do well for me. I'm planning a Sempre roof for a bug hotel I'll build when I find my mysteriously disappeared hand saw .

 

@Selleri

I think you've got it; this is why the trunk formed. Although my first thought was that you were growing a toilet brush.
I have grown them in the greenhouse all year round and I also had one in a sunny well drained bed outside until a couple of wet winters did for it.
Apparently they are now called Aristaloe ; they come from Southern Africa and are pollinated by Sunbirds, the African equivalent of Humming birds and they are beautiful birds.
I've never had issues with dripping nectar or greenfly.
Sempervivum are totally different kettle fish, coming from the Alps and similar mountains in Europe they are dead hardy, will grow on drystone walls, in rock cracks with minimal soil so long as they have really really good drainage. Yes rosettes flower and then die, but the clump continues.

 

Regarding Aeoniums, I always plant up a tub with them for the summer, a mixture, I overwinter them in separate pots in the greenhouse.

I find they stop growing in summer if kept too hot and dry and prefer a slightly shaded cool spot with a fair amount of water.
Maximum growth takes place in Spring and Autumn for me.

It's often seen as strange that plants that look, on the surface, very similar like very different growing conditions until you delve into their natural habitat and climate.

You then have to adapt that climate to ours.