I have tried to answer here 3 times now & an annoying IVillage double click thing keeps preventing me from typing. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Anyway, sorry about your Aloe, I can't tell yet, it's too early to tell.

Pls. do not give it anymore water until you see some new growth, especially since you said the soil was moist when you repotted it.

You did right to turn it out & examine what was going on. Mushy & foul smelling are both indicators of rot, so we'll have to hope you got it in time. Less is more in a case like this.

In general for succulents & particularly in this case, when in doubt about watering don't. They (succulents) can recover from underwatering, much less so from overwatering. Also wet & cold is the kiss of death, dry & cold can be done if carefully. Good luck w/it.

Cactus Mix, huh?

Generally, cactus mix has a lot of peat moss by volume.
Can you check the ingredients? Hopefully the first ingredient listed won't be peat moss.

Next, *if* you choose to leave it in this mix, don't water for a while - a couple weeks, at least.

Personally, I'd pull the Aloes out of the mix, tap off any excess soil, and place them in something
dry and sterile - like Perlite or Pumice - until you can arrange to make an appropriate mix.
This will give the Aloes a chance to callus, as well.

Callusing is always a good idea with succulents.


Josh

I checked on the potting mix. It's the Miracle-Gro Cactus/Palm/Citrus mix, which is primarily compost, peat, sand, and perlite, in order listed on the bag. I didn't see relative proportions given.

The first ingredient is usually the dominant component.

I'd get them out of that mix, personally. As soon as GardenWeb is co-operating again,
I'm sure you'll receive several more replies with excellent information on Aloe care.

Josh

I forgot to add that I added a layer of sterilized stones to the bottom of each pot to facilitate draining.

At the moment, I'm preparing for the professional exam from hell, so a re-repotting may need to wait for a couple of weeks.

A layer of stones at the bottom of the pot does not create drainage - the opposite, in fact.
The fine particulates clog the spaces between the larger stones/gravel, which creates a layer
of perched water in the soil above those stones.

I'm not recommending a re-potting, per se...I'm recommending an un-potting ;)
Just pull the Aloes, clean them up, and set them in an empty terra cotta pot if need be.
You could even set them in newspapers to facilitate drying/callusing.

And good luck on your exam!


Josh

Yes, good, I was going to suggest the same thing, pull them right out of that mix & just leave them standing up DRY in an empty pot out of the sun until you can get back to them & change the mix. This should get them a chance to dry off & settle down again.

Well, I checked today thinking of taking them out of the pot, and noticed that the soil is pretty dry if I poke my finger in an inch or two. I was thinking of being lazy and leaving the plants as-is for now without water. I also notice no moisture marks on the outsides of the terra cotta pots.

I've also moved the plants out of the basement to a south-facing window with a shade between the glass and the plants to diffuse incoming sunlight.

Hey Tym,

I don't meant to be a skeptic, but 2" down doesn't tell what the moisture is at the base underneath. If you want the BEST chances of it surviving, I'd unpot it, otherwise, it's really a crap shoot.

Tym,
you've been given some great and proper advice!
It is a "crap shoot" if you decide to be lazy and just leave the plant as is.

As Josh stated, it is not good to have the "drainage Layer"!
And the soil your using isn't the best.

And as PG suggested, 2" down doesn't tell what you need to know.

It's up to you, but for the life of me I don't understand why you would take the time to ask for help, which you've been given some very good advice.. And then take the "lazy" way out.

JoJo

My hope was that if the soil were dry, I'd be all set--especially as my time is quite limited until the holidays. Unfortunately, probing a bit with a wooden stir-stick revealed that the soil is still quite moist deep down, so I've unpotted all of the aloes, removed any shriveled roots (fortunately not that many), and set them aside indoors in an empty pot.

Looks like I'll need to prep a proper soil mix, but the planting will have to wait about two weeks until I have more time.

Two weeks, two fortnights, two months - it's all the same. They won't want to do a lot of growing until it's warmer anyway. You can let them sit there and formulate The Best Aloe Soil Ever.

^ Great to know! They don't seem to mind having been "naked" for the last few days.

Once I've got a bit more time to plan things properly, I'm going to get my hands on some Perlite. I was thinking of mixing it at least 50% with the "cactus mix" (after reading some of the other threads here) and then potting.

Make sure all the rot is cut away, leave it out where it is warm and gets good air circulation even if you need to get a fan, drainage is the most important, you can restart this plant if the cut is even just a inch below the last set of leaves on the bottom of the stem. Just set on a flat of dry soil, do not water until new roots start to come down. This may take 2 months, they grow after they flower, mine are in flower now. This works for us in So. Calif. and may not work for you. It just may be the wrong time of year. Norma

I just got round to repotting the aloes earlier today after morning holiday festivities. The plants had been kept indoors in a warm area with good indirect light.

Some additional roots dried out, but the rot seems to have stopped. I ended up combining about 60% perlite with 40% "cactus mix" and potting the plants in those. I was wondering if I should mist the soil or some such, as outermost leaves have lost their plumpness from lack of water. Inner leaves are good and plump, with new growth as well.

Thanks,

Tim

Tim,

Mist the plant's leaves - that's where they'll be able to take in the moisture. Provided you keep it warm and give it sun, you should see some new growth in a month or so and you can begin watering it then.

Thanks! I did that a few days ago before potting up and did it again today...just a spritz or two. Hopefully that'll plump up the leaves as they try to root.

Sadly, we'll be seeing more snow than sun for the next few days! :(

Just a quick update. The aloes have been in their new pots with fast-draining soil, where they receive good light diffused through a fabric curtain.

I've only been misting them once a week, though I misted them a bit early this weak as they're looking a bit dry (leaves not plump, a couple of the really long leaves creasing under weight, and a couple of the lowest leaves browning at the tip). I've been avoiding watering the soil directly as the plants probably don't have much by way of roots yet.

I'm expecting some die-back from the stress of unpotting/repotting, but is there anything else I might be missing? The air's pretty dry here, so I doubt the plants are absorbing too much water between mistings.

Hi Tym,

You seem overly concerned about watering these.

Do you understand that Aloes are succulents? That is to say by definition, that they hold water in reserve in their thick, fleshy leaves. So that's why one doesn't really need to worry about this.

Not suggesting you do this, but just to illustrate the point, Aloes can be left upright, bare, that is to say no soil at all, bone dry, standing up in clay pots for MONTHS at a time w/ absolutely no harm to the plant.

I'd just leave the plant alone, be a bit less concerned w/ the watering & just GIVE THE PLANT TIME, that's really the most one can do for now.

I wouldn't expect die back from potting & repotting, these are rough & rugged plants that can take a lot. While it's good to be concerned, they're not as fragile or sensitive as you seem to think they are, I assure you.

Tym,

As Pirate Girl said, you're too concerned about watering these. They'll be fine.

They are drawing resources from their lower leaves in order to live, but this takes months. As the resources are depleted, the lower leaves dry up. You can remove or not. This is a natural process, especially when they're in growth - as new growth appears, old growth dies.

As you note, until there are roots there is no reason to water them. The only condition where you would is one you can't supply right now - lots of sun and warmth, a broad expanse of sidewalk or a heating mat, and the plant sitting in pure pumice in a pot that will warm easily. Until you have those conditions when an Aloe is rootless, watering is fruitless - or rather it's worse than fruitless, because it will kill the plant.

Just be kickin' it with the Aloe - stand it up in a nice sturdy vase/container (a 155mm shell casing works great), or leave it potted in dry soil, and spritz as needed. It will be fine until growing time.

I hope this has convinced you, because frankly I'm out of words.

I concur with Pirate Girl and Cactus!

Let 'em be...and they'll be fine.

Josh

Thanks, all!

I think I've become a bit over-concerned given the past mishap. I will adopt an attitude of "benign neglect"...that is to say, leave the poor plants alone and let them do their thing! :)

Tim,

That's simply stupendous to hear.

Oh, we are well familiar already about benign neglect here, its methods, rules and ramifications, and some of us try to practice it, too.

Just thought I'd drop in and let folks know how things are going. The aloe plants have been dormant these last couple of months, and apart from a misting now and then, I haven't done a thing. The outer leaves are quite thin, but there have been no problems.

I'm keeping an eye on the plants for signs of definite growth and then will give the plants their first real water since the holidays to plump them up. It'll be interesting to see if these plants will flower.

Well, the days are brightening up and the aloe plants are showing new growth. I've switched from misting to good thorough watering ensuring that the soil has been bone dry for a few days between waterings. I'm using a 50% "cactus mix" / 50% perlite medium, with the plants in unpainted terra cotta pots. The plants are in a south-facing window with sunlight filtered through a shade.

Leaves remain thin and there has been some increased curling and tip browning recently. I'm guessing that this is because the plants are using up stores to send up new leaves, and will top once the plants send out more roots.

Thanks everyone for your help! I'll add some pics once the plants have plumped up a bit. I have so many aloes now (five plants total), that I'll be passing some along to friends. :)