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Gastrolea 'GREEN ICE'
Very different and spectacular plant with beautiful
colouring. Uncommon fat, smooth icy light green leaves.
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Family: Asphodelaceae
Scientific name: x Gasteraloe cv. GREEN ICE
Synonyms:
- Gasteria cv. GREEN ICE
- Gastrolea 'Green Ice'
Origin:
Garden origin (Nursery
produced cultivar)
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Gastrolea 'Green Ice' is a Gasteria/Aloe hybrid,
and is properly called a X Gasteraloe
Description: Very compact plants with thick, smooth, toothless
variegated/striped leaves colored of icy light green and green. It grows
relatively slowly, can get quite large with time with rosettes up to
30cm across.
However no Gasteria species has leaves that look like this, in fact as a
juvenile this plant has the typical flat strap-like leaves of any
Gasteria but as it get older, looks more like an Aloe, so it is a true
mixture of the two genera.
Aloe variegata (NOT
Aloe vera or
Aloe descoingsii, as sometime reported)
is the parent Aloe. Supposedly the Gasteria that was used in this hybrid
was a hybrid itself listed as either 'Old Man Silver', or 'Little Warty'
(itself a hybrid of 'Old Man Silver' with G. batesiana).
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Cultivation: They are slow
growing but long-lived plants of easy culture which
makes them a good houseplant and can be an excellent subject for the
beginning gasteriaphile (it can grow easily on window sills, verandas
and in miniature succulent gardens where they are happy to share their
habitat with other smaller succulent plants)
Need light shade to shade, but will take full sun part of the day. They a
prefer a very porous potting mix to increase drainage. During the hot
summer months, the soil should be kept moist but not overly wet. The
plants are fertilized only once during the growing season with a
balanced fertilizer diluted to ½ the recommended strength. During the
winter months, water only when the soil becomes completely dry. Frost hardy to -1°C (Or less).
Propagation: Gasteraloe "Green Ice" is easily propagated by the removal of
offshoots or by leaf cuttings in spring or summer. To propagate by leaf
cuttings, remove a leaf and let it lie for about one month
(e.g. in a cool window sill), giving the
wound time to heal. Then lay the leaf on its side with the basal part
buried in the soil. This leaf should root within a month or two, and
small plants will form at the leaf base. Young plants
can be harvested the following season.
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