A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Aloe

I've had had healthy Aloe in the past, but since my husband killed them with kindness while I was in the hospital (He said, "I don't know why your Spiders & Aloe should be so sick... I watered them faithfully, every other day!" AAGHHH! )
I got this new 1 about a year ago & it doesn't seem to have developed decent roots. It pushed up some babies a while back, but none of them are really "hooked on", either! The Mommy just lays there, flopped over on her side, & has grown in a swirl instead of pointing at the ceiling like I think she should! It's beyond me how they're even alive, because they don't seem to have roots!

When I had the healthy Aloe, it was under fluorescent light & seemed to love it there, but we've moved since then & I don't have that lighting anymore. I've moved the pot from room to room, looking for a spot they'd like (keeping them out of direct sunlight), but new locations don't seem to make a difference. Please advise!

I also think they get to looking a bit wilty & that I might be UNDER watering them (remembering my poor water-logged plants struggling to survive has made me sorta gun shy!) Exactly WHAT is the recipe for watering Aloe?

If the pot is dry down two inches water. Water less when the plant is not growing since it has dormant periods. Give it direct light and as much as it can get. Use a sucullent or cactus potting soil for best results.

I read recently that there are over 200 varieties of aloe and that some don't have much of a root system. If that is the case you may have one of those types. Maybe if you can get a close up of it and put it in mystery plants someone could tell you. I am still more of a beginner than anything else and couldn't identify a specific type yet.

Good luck with your new aloe.

It wants sun. Please give it sun. It's etiolating from lack of sun. Yes, this veriety of Vera (there are two, to my knowledge) maintains juvinile characteristics; green spotty leaves, and not much by way of roots, but it wants sun. You can't give it too much sun, but you can give it too much all at once if its never had any. Increase exposure by ~1 hour a day until it gets the fullest and most you can give it. Under very sunny conditions, like outside in the summer, this variety turns a putty-straw-tanish color. It's not particularly attractive, but the plant doesn't mind in the least. You're not going to get enough in your sunniest window in winter in SW Oregon to give this plant any trouble at all!

Oops, forgot about water. Give it some once in a while. Once a week, once every 2 weeks, it's pretty tollerant as long as the soil drains quickly. It's always best to feel like you're underwatering, which you probably aren't, than to overwater. The first sign of dehydration is that the tips of the older leaves will become noticably thinner as the plant sucks the water out for the new leaves. Be careful, though, if it's been overwatered to the point where the roots have rotted, it won't be able to get any water into the plant either. Stay calm, let the soil (good call on the cactus soil) dry out 1-2 inches down, water, and the plant will grow new roots. (And give it sun!)
Good luck, MEP

Thanx everybody, for your help, & I'm sure my Aloe Vera thanks you too! Here all this time I thought that you weren't supposed to put them in direct sunlight! Interesting about the different varieties; that some don't have much of a root system... maybe now that I know how to make it happy, we'll find out if it's the kind that knows how to grow roots or not!

I don't know what happened to the pic I posted... I changed the name of my folder on PHOTOBUCKET, so maybe that messed things up clear over here! (DARN!) I'll put it up again, just for clarification, in case somebody comes along to see what we've been talking about.
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I have a different variety of aloe so this may not apply at all. But the roots mine makes are fleshy and pretty big and they like to fan out right below the surface rather than go deep. So it prefers a wide shallow pot rather than a tall one. But as I said it makes some thick roots.

Aloe needs sun..loads of them, will try to take some pics of Aloe at my mum's and my mum in law's place...some were awesome with breath of about 3 inches at the base!

Hi,

I have the same Aloe. Exactly the same. I had so many problems with it to begin with. My sister and a few friends grow them like weeds. I asked them for advice and this is what they told me to do.
Water about once a week and DO NOT put it in direct sunlight. That was very hard for me to accept. Just normal lighting - a room with windows but not in front of the window.

If they get too much light they die. I followed there directions and mine are doing great and I have babies everywhere.

Chae

I always forget that in Malaysia, the sun's intensity and duration is different from where all of you are writing from.


wait up for the pictures of the aloe with the whole bunch of babies.