Aloe hybrid 'Delta Lights'
Aloe 'Delta Lights is a decorative hybrid aloe grown for its rosette of triangular, cream-and-green banded leaves edged with small teeth. Selected for patterned foliage, it is a popular ornamental and container plant among collectors of hybrid aloes.
'Delta Lights' was developed by the American hybridizer Kelly Griffin and introduced around 2011. It is a hybrid of Aloe deltoideodonta, a species from southern-central Madagascar, and its name plays on that parent's epithet. Like many modern Aloe hybrids, it is grown mainly for its patterned leaves, though established plants do flower.
Description
'Delta Lights' forms a rosette of stiff, triangular leaves that taper to a point. The deep green leaf surface is marked with creamy-white to pale-yellow striations that run across the leaf in a zigzag, mosaic-like pattern, giving the plant its distinctive banded look. The leaf margins carry small teeth, and in bright light the leaves and margins flush pinkish, providing a warm contrast to the green-and-cream body.
It is a small-to-medium aloe: individual rosettes reach roughly 30 cm (12 in) across, and plants offset over time to build a clustered clump that can spread wider. Colour is strongly light-dependent — brighter conditions bring out the pinkish tones and tighten the rosette, while shade produces a greener, looser plant.
Cultivation
Care follows the parent Aloe species. Grow 'Delta Lights' in a free-draining, mostly mineral mix, and give it plenty of light — bright light keeps the rosette compact and brings out the pinkish flush, while too little light makes the plant etiolate and fade. It tolerates full sun but appreciates some shade during the hottest part of the day; too little light will cause it to lose its markings.
Water thoroughly once the soil has dried out, then allow it to dry again before the next drink; reduce watering in winter. This hybrid is particularly intolerant of prolonged wet, and overwatering or a slow-draining mix is the main cause of rot. It is a soft succulent that will not tolerate hard frost, so protect it from freezing temperatures. See Watering and Repotting for general technique.
Because it clusters readily, 'Delta Lights' is easily increased from the offsets it produces around the base — see Propagation — offsets. Being a named hybrid, it is propagated vegetatively to keep its characteristics true; seed will not reliably reproduce the same plant.
See also
- Aloe — the genus overview
- Soil and potting mix · Watering · Propagation — offsets · Repotting · Pests and diseases