Viewing post #2631754 by Baja_Costero

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Nov 27, 2021 1:43 PM CST
Name: Baja
Baja California (Zone 11b)
Cactus and Succulents Seed Starter Xeriscape Container Gardener Hummingbirder Native Plants and Wildflowers
Garden Photography Region: Mexico Plant Identifier Forum moderator Plant Database Moderator Garden Ideas: Level 2
I would think most variegated cultivars are sports of non-variegated plants, or at least they started out that way before they were trained and selected for stability.

A very select few variegated aloes start out that way (from seed). These are exceedingly rare, highly prized, and impossible to obtain except by sowing many thousands of seedlings. I do not know if the trait would be heritable; presumably that would take a couple of generations to find out. People trot these plants out on FB to wide adulation. They are pretty amazing.

There are a few aloes where you can stabilize variegation, or turn a variegated leaf into a variegated plant, by inducing branching right above the variegated leaf you like. This only works in any reliable way with plants that have long internodes and stems. Leaves packed all tight together like on CC would be a nightmare for this kind of approach.

The key there is the way uneven or unstable variegation tends to be encoded in the stem and buds associated with variegated leaves. Offsets that form from axillary buds above variegated leaves are most likely to retain the variegation pattern of said leaves. This trick is regularly used in the Crassulaceae to aim propagation in the desired direction. You behead the plant right above a certain leaf and that gives you a branch with the characteristics of that leaf.
Last edited by Baja_Costero Nov 27, 2021 1:54 PM Icon for preview

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