A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 aloe trouble!!!

Hi everyone. Um... i am having a little trouble with my new aloe Vera plant. I bought it in a pot way too small for it, so i was told to replant it with peat moss in a bigger pot, and run water through it until it all mixes in. I'm not exactly sure if that's right, and i really don't want it to die.. Also, the plant seems to have a very dark green color to it that almost seems abnormal. It may just be me, but I'm not really sure. I really appreciate everybody's help. Thanks!!!

No peat moss, peat holds way too much water and if it does get dry, it's very hard to get damp again. Use commercial cactus soil or regular potting soil to which you add drainage material (coarse, not fine, sand, grit, gravel [aquarium gravel is good], pearlite [I have a personal bias against this stuff but some people like it], that kind of thing) at 1:1 or 1:2 drainage to soil. Use an unglazed terra cotta pot, give it LOTS of direct sun, keep it on the dry side, and enjoy it! Dark green is probably ok and it will probably fade a bit now that it's not in a commercial propigation situation. Good luck!

Badplanter I also plant mine like Margaret E. Pell does have good luck with it so far. Use can get small river rock or buy gravel does not have to be large small is ok but not fine. I have some of mine in cactus soil and some in regular potting soil all are doing good no difference in way they are growing. Good luck.
Jimmy

thanks for the help--i bought cacti soil today, and i'm gonna plant it as soon as i get the chance--ill let you know what happens!

hi again--i just have another question about my aloe. one of the branches broke off (a rather large 1, at that), and it was all rotted and bare of the juice inside--this bottom part was literally black. it was leaning for a while, not quite standing up right, then it just broke off this morning. The rest of the branches are fine. What should i do with the branch that broke, and what should i do with the plant itself? why did this even happen?

By 'branch' I'm thinking you probably mean leaf. Those big spikey things with no stem that come out from the center to form the rosette are really leaves. If the leaf that broke off has no usable gel, compost it. Check the plant for signs of rot where the leaf came from, clean it up with a very sharp knife if there is, and let it dry out. Why did this happen? Probably the leaf got dammaged somehow a few weeks ago, some kind of fungus got in and liked the wet insides of the leaf. Maybe the whole plant was kept a little too moist.You could try a copper based fungicide on any open wounds it gets until they heal over.

ok, thanks for the tips--the plant WAS knocked over a few weeks ago....i thought nothing happened ....but i guess something did happen! thnaks for the heklp, i'll go clean it up ASAP