Aloe mite on young A. 'Hercules'?

[BarryRice]

Hey guys

I picked up this young plant at the Intercity sale this year. Growth since them is starting to look distorted.

Watcha think? Aloe mite? I've never had Aloe mite, so am not skilled at detecting it in the early stages.

FWIW, I grow the plant outdoors in bright conditions. I grow many Aloe species so this isn't a simple cultivation error.

[iann]

Looks like it, but then I don't know much about Aloes.

[Saxicola]

That's what I'd call it. On a common Aloe I'd say chuck it in the trash, but this is a little more special so you could try to rescue it. It isn't THAT rare though so don't risk your other plants over it if it isn't responding to treatment. You might want to check with the guys on the xeric world forum. Here the crowd skews pretty heavily towards the cactus side of things. Over there it seems like all anyone talks about are Aloe and Agave.

[BarryRice]

Being a geek with a couple of microscopes at home, I performed a few dissections of tissue, and at 100x confirmed the presence of the dread mite. My response was to isolate the plant, conduct a lot of surgery, followed by contact and systemic treatments. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of this pest.

Barry