Congrats on the new plant and welcome to the forums! 1. Looks physical damage to me. Maybe it was slightly damaged in transport and the leaf eventually buckled? 2. You can keep the leaf as is. It may still grow and stay alive for quite a long time. Eventually the damage portion will dry out and the leaf will break off at that point. Unfortunately, the leaf will never 'heal' or 'regrow' from that point as it was before. On the bright side, over time it will be replaced as your Aloe plant grows larger. Side note: If the terracotta pot has a drain hole, you can eventually remove the plastic pot and plant your Aloe directly in it. That would better if you plan on keeping your plant inside (or outside depending where you life).

enjoy the bloom, proceed as usual in September. one year of two blooms wont hurt it. that's what I like about hippeastrums- they'll throw you a random flower every so often. a lot of people on here just have a bloom or two all year and then a big bloom at some point. don't worry about it. if anything, you've been taking really good care of it if its throwing up an extra scape :)

I am in zone 7b in Georgia, and the "last frost date" for me is less than four weeks away. If your last frost date is also coming up soon, then you might want the head start that your plants would get from being sown indoors. They will germinate faster in the warmer temp of the house. What you choose to do may depend on the kinds of plants you are planning to grow. Winter Sowing can give you sturdier plants than starting them indoors, but if the seeds are for warm-season plants, that do best in summer heat, and if they take a long time to get to the flowering stage, you might prefer to start them indoors. Otherwise, you could have a longer wait for your flowers and/or veggies. The official WinterSown website shows/describes starting seeds in containers outdoors, but when I can, I prefer to put seeds right into the ground. In my yard, dill, beets, and 'German Giant' radish seeds were sowed into the garden several weeks ago, in cold soil and cold weather. The dill isn't up yet, but the beets and radishes are looking good. I don't use the baggie method, but I often pre-sprout cool-season crops like peas, back in February, before planting them. I start them in a flat/tray, in a seed starting mix, and transplant them to the garden on a less-cold day (we usually have a week or so of warm-ish weather near the end of Feb.). This pre-sprouting saves the seeds from rotting in the cold, wet ground. I would guess that the baggie method gives a similar result. This probably isn't enough to answer your questions, but it may be a start. Best wishes for great gardening! -Amy

I'm pretty sure it means, do 19 rows of stocking stitch (alternating rows of purl and plain/knit), starting with a purl row. So do 19 rows, all the odd rows including the first are purl stitch, all the even rows are plain/knit stitch.