I think the problem is that, like a number of Aloes, they won't stop growing unless they're kept cold.Chrisg wrote:I have had problems in the past with them getting leggy leaves. they are hard to stop growing over winter and tend to suddenly come into growth. I stop watering early and slowly move in darker spaces and don't water at all until I put it into brighter light.
I would think that an A. plicatilis permitted to dry out from November to March/April in a frost-free greenhouse would sit there happy in its dormancy. The only place I can keep mine frost-free is indoors, which is too warm. I used to keep it right up under a roof-light, which kept the light levels as high as possible indoors, but it still made etiolated growth, because the days are too short and there isn't enough direct sun or light intensity.
As of last Autumn, it had become too big and top-heavy to haul upstairs and then up a ladder to the high shelf under the roof-light, so it had to live in a full-height Northwest-facing window in the living room. By March, it had made quite enough weak growth, thank you very much ... but it had to spend another 5+ weeks there, waiting for the frosts to end.
In general, I have difficulties with tender succulents not because I can't keep them warm enough to stay alive, but because I can't keep them cold enough to put them to sleep.
