A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Old aloe

Hi, I'm new.
I have an aloe that I have had for a while now and has flowered several times. It had 3 babies which I have potted in a mix of pearlite, sand and compost and not watered. There were a lot of healthy looking roots so they should be fine. (4 inch pot)

The mother however is probably 12 inches total size with a 4 inch dried up section although healthy on top of that. It has been like this for a couple of years and has flowered in this state. It won't stand up any more though and the dried up bit is unsightly.

What would you recommend doing?
Also does anyone know what type of aloe it is?
Thanks, Mark.

Looks like either an Aloe variegata or an Aloe Liliaceae, However, if it has that long stem, it may be a Brevifolia, in which case this is normal growth habit and it clambers along the ground...

Sorry if thats not much help...

I would repot the mother in a slightly larger pot and put it a little deeper in the soil....Looks healthy to me!

Thank-you both. I am now fairly sure it is an Aloe Variegata after looking at some pictures. Is it safe to bury it up to the start of the green or something slightly less drastic? The brownish section is very dry and bits of it snap off easily.

I would think so...but I am not sure. See if margarete.pell sees this...she'll know for sure. Either her or Angelblossom....they know their cacti/succulents! Good luck!

I've also seen in these forums that aloes reroot easily so could I slice it off at the bottom of the healthy looking bit, leave it dry to heal over and then prop it up on top of the soil? Or would that just be silly?

It might work. If you do that, pot up the bottom, too. It might send out new shoot(s) at ground level. Variegata are nice, the flowers are pretty, but mine will not set seed with any of my other aloe, even ones that will set seed with its pollen. How much sun does it get/are you giving the offsets? They want a lot of sun, this species especially. That may have been why it got leggy. No, you can't burry it up to the green part, it wants its surface roots. Let us know what you decide to do, plaese.

I've decided to go for the plunge because it will look better without the dried up leaves. Cutting it open I was surprised to see so much live plant and so little dried up leaves. I cut it to a point to give more surface area to root from.



I have planted the roots section and will leave the top section to heal over for a few days before planting.
Fingers crossed and I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for all the advice.

Fingers and toes!