Aloe "Tangerine" has become a staple at the nursery because of its relatively quick growth, vivid tangerine orange blooms and compact form. We grow it from small starts, slowly upgrading it through 4-inch pots, 2 gallons, and eventually into striking landscape-ready specimens. Over the years, I’ve taken lots of photos as these plants progressed, and they tell a story of seasonal shifts, steady growth, and the subtle reward of waiting. In this post, I’ll walk through what we’ve learned growing Aloe ‘Tangerine’, how we care for it at each stage, and what you can expect if you decide to grow one yourself.
Young Aloe "Tangerine"Aloe 'Tangerine' is a striking, midsized hybrid known for its upright form, vibrant flower color, and year-round landscape presence.
This cultivar grows as a well-formed rosette, with thick, sword-shaped leaves that point upward and slightly outward. The foliage is a soft, blue-green color that can take on pinkish tones along the edges—especially in cool weather or full sun. Along the margins, you'll notice small, evenly spaced teeth in a warm reddish-brown hue that highlight the plant's shape without appearing overly sharp or aggressive.
Mature plants may produce pups (offsets) around the base, eventually forming a dense clump if left undisturbed. In nursery production, these offsets are sometimes separated for propagation, or left intact to create multi-headed specimens that stand out in larger pots or landscape settings.
When in bloom, Aloe 'Tangerine' sends up a tall, unbranched flower stalk from the center of the rosette. The bloom is densely packed with narrow, tubular flowers in vivid tangerine-orange—true to its name. The color is especially intense in cool months, making this aloe a showstopper in late winter and early spring gardens. It’s also a reliable nectar source for hummingbirds and other pollinators during the off-season for many flowering plants.
Let's start at the beginning. When growing plants at scale it can be useful to buy trays of "plant starts" and grow them on to larger retail sized plants.
The young Aloe 'Tangerine' plants below were just transplanted from propagation trays into 4-inch pots, marking the start of their next growth phase. Though freshly potted, they’re already showing healthy leaf color, early marginal teeth, and the beginnings of a tight rosette form.
Over the next 6 to 9 months, they’ll steadily fill out these containers. With consistent light, airflow, and careful watering, they’ll develop into sturdy, sellable plants ready for garden use or continued nursery production.
The Aloe 'Tangerine' plants pictured below have been growing in 4-inch containers for about nine months and have just about maxed out their space. The rosettes are full and upright, with clean, evenly spaced leaves that show the healthy, balanced growth you'd expect from a well-established young aloe. Leaf color is a soft green with hints of pink or red along the margins—especially on the older outer leaves—which is a common and welcome trait in this hybrid when exposed to sun or cool nights.
What you can’t see in the photo is the root system, which has started to push out through the drainage holes. That’s a clear sign these plants are ready for the next step. At this stage, we typically move them up to a 2-, 3-, or even 5-gallon pot, depending on how quickly we expect them to size up for retail or landscape use.
With more root space and continued care, these aloes will double in volume quickly and may begin flowering in two to three years.
At the 2-gallon stage, these Aloe 'Tangerine' plants have started to fill out. Their upright rosettes are broad and balanced, with rich green foliage that’s slightly darker than usual due to early spring light conditions in the greenhouse. The leaf margins are clean and well-toothed, with a touch of bronze near the tips.
This size is at a sellable size and the plants still have a few months of room to grow in their current pots if needed.
The Aloe 'Tangerine' plants above were recently potted into 3-gallon containers and are still settling in. While their rosettes are well-formed and showing strong growth, they’ll need at least another six months to fully fill out their new pots. Right now, they’re in that in-between phase—established, but not yet at their peak.
Leaf structure is upright and architectural, with healthy color and good spacing between the leaves. Once these plants finish growing into their containers, they’ll be landscape-ready—ideal for homeowners looking for immediate impact or for trade professionals who need reliable, mid-sized specimens that are ready to plant straight into the ground.
At 7 to 10 gallons, Aloe 'Tangerine' reaches its full expression—broad, well-structured rosettes with thick, upright foliage and strong visual presence. These specimens have taken five to six years to grow from plugs to this size, and most have now entered their mature flowering phase, producing tall, vivid orange bloom spikes reliably for the past two winters.
The plants are landscape-ready, ideal for gardeners or designers looking for immediate impact and minimal wait time. Their size and age give them a settled, architectural quality, and many have begun to form basal offsets, hinting at future clumping growth. At this stage, Tangerine is no longer just a standout aloe—it's a specimen piece.
Whether you’re starting with a young plant or adding a big one straight to the garden, it’s a rewarding aloe to grow. The color, form, and seasonal blooms all show up in time.
If you're looking for something with character and a long-term payoff, this hybrid is worth keeping an eye on. We usually have plants available at different stages, so feel free to check in if you're ready to add one to your garden.