Survival of albino Aloes

This is an Aloe nobilis

variegata.  Pups are continously growing from her base - all

variegated. The variegation patterns are widely varied, ranging from almost full green to albino*.  Striping is light to dark green, often turning red/brown in full sun.

Closeup of albino* pups

*In the context of this post, "Albino" are plants with very little chlorophyll.

I was curious if the albino forms would survive on their own.  I removed four similarly sized pups, three albino and one standard, and situated them in half day sun. This is a photo of the four pups a few months after removal.  The standard form has grown twice as large as the albinos and has begun to produce pups.  

More recently, I removed these four pups and planted them in the same pot.  They represent a wider range of variegation.  There is one almost completely white specimen.  Curious to see if it survives.

This pup was lightly variegated and unlike the others, took on the reddish "stress" colors of the mother plant.  

Of the first group, only this one and it's green sibling, survived.  The other two turned brown and died.  This plant is exhibiting the same problem, browning of the leaf margins.  Plants in the second group have survived so far.  All but the whitest plants, regardless of the proportion of green to white, did very well.  On some plants, green stripes have thickened, but the all-white leaves never developed new striping and are weaker and more sensitive to light.  They cannot tolerate much direct sun, yet do poorly in bright, full shade.  They seem to do best in dappled shade with a dose of early morning, direct sun.  I am still experimenting with exposure.  


I can only conclude that the albino plants, lacking in chlorophyll, are weaker, less tolerant of light/sun, and grow much more slowly than their greener counterparts, if they survive at all.  More updates to come....!