Change the soil, cut off all dead roots, use the right soil mix. water and fertilize once a week if the plant has live roots. Make sure it has plenty of fresh air, sun. Sun is needed to grow well. Don't let it sit in water, and don't water if the soil is still damp. Put a chop stick or pencil down in to the mix and see if it is perfectly dry. Pick up the pot and feel the weight, then feel the weight after it is watered. When you water make sure it is thorough. Water must readh the root ball. Give it love, make sure it is healthy. Do not use Peat moss in the soil, make sure the mix drains fast. If this doesn't work bury it and say a prayer. It bends over to reach the sun. Gradually put it into the sun, if you were going to the beach now when it is hot and sun out, wouuld you get a sun burn if you were out for a few hours? Don't just give you plant a drink, put it in the shower and drench it for 5 minutes, the water must reach the center of the root ball not just the edges around the pot. I don't know what more to tell you at at moment. I don't have any books to send, which you do need. I wish I could be of more help. Norma

Growing an Aloe Vera (or most other Aloe species - there are more than 300 of them!) is not a difficult matter, if a few basic rules are followed: If grown in a pot, allow the root ball plenty of room to grow; aloes are voracious growers, and having space to do so is necessary. When you repot, allow a growing area three to five times the size of the root ball. Use a well-draining soil. The number of soils A. vera will grow in is quite large, but a basic cactus mix available at home improvement centers is quite suitable. You may wish to experiment with other soils, but one thing it needs is to be well draining, so even a home-made concoction of 1/3 sand, 1/3 soil, and 1/3 pumice/gravel is better than straight potting soil. Aloes don't like to be cold and they don't like wet feet. Pot up your aloe in soil up to the root ball. Use top dressing (gravel/pebbles) on top of the soil to give it a finished look, hold down the dirt, and reduce evaporation. Do not water a newly repotted aloe for a few days. This gives it a chance to get used to its new home, as well as allowing time for any roots that have broken to seal themselves. After a few days, a light watering, perhaps with some B-1 in the water, is recommended. Most aloes grow vegetatively from April to October so water regularly with that in mind. The rest of the year, watering twice a month is sufficient. Water when the soil is dry - rainwater is the best - so that may mean twice a month, or once a week, or some combination thereof. Aloes are very forgiving and they can go a long time without water, but they grow best with it. If in doubt about watering, don't water. Don't forget - they shouldn't be cold and wet. Some aloes will withstand a freeze, but many will turn to mush. No one wants a mushy aloe! Fertilize from April through Septrember, twice a month, with a low-nitrogen fertilizer, heavily diluted. You can try Miracle-Gro 15-30-15, diluted to about 1 to 5. Many aloes produce 'pups'. When the pup is fully formed, detach it from the mother plant, let it callus over for a few days in a cool, dry area, and pot it up. If it has roots, pot as you would a regular aloe, allowing for the fact that it is smaller and should be in a suitably sized pot for its size. If it has no roots, let it callus over, place the cut/broken end ON the soil, and support it with top dressing. DO NOT WATER IT-it has no roots, so watering the soil will likely cause rot. Instead, mist it every few days. Roots should start forming within a month. When growth is evident, it can be watered. Aloe vera flowers are yellow, but others flower in hues of pink/red/orange/white/gray. They start as a spike that gradually gets larger and finally opens, lasting a long time. Aloe flowers are beacons for hummingbirds, so be prepared to be buzzed by these lovely creatures if you are amongst your aloes when they are flowering. For more information, seek out fellow succulent plant people, join your local/national society, and take advantage of the advice and experience they are able to offer. Stop by our Cacti and Succulents forum for tips and friendly conversation. Lastly, these are not ironclad rules. What works for others may not work for you. Experiment a little if you think that's what is needed as your growing conditions are likely different. Aloes are very adaptable creatures, within limits, of course.

I would worry about them dying too, but look at the dates of the posts: first one is June 16th, so photo was taken no later than that date. Second post is today-August 4th. So I am thinking that if they didn't die in about 6 weeks or longer, and had been sitting in same location they must be acclimitized well...of course that is just the way I think :) and could be very wrong! And greening of the plants on left suggest to me that even little bit of shade and little more water (drops from window AC units) makes quite a difference

Aloe vera is the correct name, having been published by Burman a few days before Miller described the same plant as Aloe barbadensis almost Two Hundred and Fifty Years Ago (1768). Because the earlier publication date takes precedence, the name Aloe vera is the accepted name for the plant. I know of no one selling an Aloe vera Burman, or an Aloe barbadensis Miller. They are the same plant. No one is cultivating one versus the other. The names are synonymous. You know, I have to give you credit just for asking the question. I have never seen this specific issue raised before. There are two primary phenotypes in cultivation, a spotted-leaf orange-flowered plant some call Aloe chinensis, and a somewhat larger version without leaf spots and yellow flowers which may be the closest to the ancestral Aloe vera. It has been cultivated for four millenia, so it is hard to sort out its true ancestry. No wild populations have ever been found, and the plant may be of hybrid origin. Genetic analysis suggests it is closely related to a number of Aloes from Yemen (Socotra), Somalia, and Sudan. Brad