Aloe ‘Carola’ — Aloe Carola / ‘Starfire Carola’

🌱 Morphology
A small aloe with a compact and very colorful rosette. Its fleshy, lanceolate, green leaves feature small spots and light-colored lines, while the margins and numerous areas of the epidermis can acquire intense pink to red tones when exposed to abundant light. Small marginal teeth complete its ornamental appearance. It produces offsets and, over time, forms compact clusters.

🌍 Distribution, Habitat, and Family
A horticultural cultivar with no specific natural distribution or habitat. It is also marketed as Aloe ‘Starfire Carola’. There is no sufficiently solid primary documentation available to attribute its creation to a specific hybridizer or to establish its parentage, so no speculative genealogy should be assigned. It belongs to the Asphodelaceae family, tribe Alooideae, genus Aloe.

❄️ Temperature — USDA 9b
It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −4 ºC. Although it shows good heat tolerance, when potted it is recommended to protect it from frost and keep the substrate dry during cold spells. DesertSTORE currently indicates a tolerance of up to 3 ºC, so a more prudent cultivation approach is adopted here.

☀️ Lighting
It requires plenty of light to keep the rosette compact and develop the characteristic pink-red coloration of the leaves and margins. Gentle direct sunlight or very bright semi-shade is recommended, with progressive acclimatization. As a cultivation reference, 20–30 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR is adequate.

💧 Growth Cycle and Watering
Summer dormancy. During the active period, it is recommended to water deeply and allow the substrate to dry completely before the next watering. With very high summer temperatures, activity slows and watering should be spaced out.

🌸 Flowering
It produces a floral stem that emerges from the center of the rosette and bears yellow-orange tubular flowers. Under Desert CITY growing conditions, flowering is usually observed between February and May, although this may vary depending on temperature, light, and the plant's condition.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, Desert CHOICE® Aloes, Haworthias & Co. is recommended, with high levels of potassium and bioavailable calcium. Apply with irrigation, reducing or suspending fertilization during summer dormancy.

9x9 cm gourmet black pot

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a high-tech square pot, with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.