Baby Aloe not happy back in its original pot

10 years ago

I had an Aloe that broke off from the "mother plant" (See second photo below).... Which also strangely is turning more brown than the really bright green it was before---looking to see if I took a photo ever that included this when it was healthier----in case something is making both aloe plants turn brown....

and I potted for years in sandy soil, in the small clay pot in first photo below, and it just outgrew the pot.

I cut it off at three feet---didn't have the heart to cut it off earlier--- and put just the top end in water as I was instructed elsewhere--- for about 3 months and it got lots of tiny rootlets.

I transplanted it back in its original pot after cleaning the pot and soil replaced with new cactus soil from a bag mix that looks like the original mix. Everything went along fine (I hope I can find now or later how bright green every branch looked)... I put it out of sun for a day or two , then right back where the water pot/ and its original location was for so many years that grew 3 feet long trunk.

Now you see in the first photo what happend. Slowly the top shoots turned brownish then the bottom ones so almost no green left at all...

What did I do wrong an how to stop/fix it?

Thanks to everyone who reads this and helps me and my baby aloe out!

Forest_of_Houseplants

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Comments (7)

forest_of_houseplant
Original Author
10 years ago
view from other side
forest_of_houseplant
Original Author
10 years ago
Mother Aloe Plant
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forest_of_houseplant
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi everyone...

Was off the Garden Web page for a while, checking back in ...

Does anyone want to help my poor baby aloe?

Thanks!
christine1950
10 years ago
I think your baby aloe is a goner. Your soil looks way to compacted and the pot is too big for such a small plant, aloes tend to like smaller pots like your mother aloe. Did you let the baby aloe callus over a few days before you planted it? Hope that helps.
Christine
forest_of_houseplant
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for replying Christine!

Yes, I had that baby Aloe growing green (very green! compared to mother plant --I'm still looking to see if I took a photo that ever included it) in plain water plastic cup!
It had a developed root system and I was following instructions (general) for converting all my water only plants back to soil as unfortunately, we have West Nile carrying mosquitos that love to take over indoor pots of water, so only solution is to convert everything that is doing great in water to either full hydroponics (missing the pots I have lots of the Deco system clay pellets)---or back to soil. Back to soil was easy choice as I already had the original pot the plant was already growing two years in it.

Sad story---- it got knocked over in its soil pot a year ago---- so I put it in water But now with new soil in the same exact pot that it came out of with a new water developed root system back in January 2014 I repotted it and had it in good sunny location (exactly where it thrived for two years prior).

So its a mystery to me what I could have done wrong....(right, it originally fell over all by itself, who knows what reason was...I did not touch it, found it on floor one sad day)....

There is more green on the tall stalk, but one of the side ones withered away now.... so strange, I'm still being hopeful as long as its green somewhere, right? What did I do wrong so I don't repeat the same error!

Thanks again for replying!
forest_of_houseplant
Original Author
10 years ago
I kept watering it like before. Maintined it in same spot it was doing well for 2 years, and lo and behold! Its alive!

See attached photo.... I put white paper behind it to get camera to make green look like I see it with my eyes. Its back to all healthy green----yes I see the brown spots, they happened when it suffered and turned light green, then brownish, and have not gone back to healthy again--- but as long as the new center leaves are firm and not wilting and green again, its come back to life... Thank you Christine1950 for your advice and anyone else reading this..

Forest
christine1950
10 years ago
Congrats Forest, it looks good and now its got new growth :Christine