The first is Aloe vera v. chinensis. (blooms orange) The 2nd (although that looks like more spots than usual) which is much larger, thicker leaves & yellow blooms, is Aloe vera/barbadensis. I believe it has been reclassified with the latter name, but most people are still calling it by the former (vera), so one or the other is listed as a synonym. See link below for a pic of an Aloe vera/barbadensis ~Rosemarie, who hangs out on the C&S forum, but pops over here on occasion =) Here is a link that might be useful:

Mold wouldn't be growing inside the leaf, as long as the leaf is healthy. Your pictures are linked below - frankly, I can't enlarge the pictures enough to see what you're talking about; perhaps someone else can (or could you take larger pics?). We'll help you here, we can just be a PITA doing so. Here is a link that might be useful: Aloe vera v. chinensis problem?

Certainly not here to dispute the name of the Lowes plant. I bought a couple of the same plants, chuckling to myself that ALL of the aloes were labeled Aloe vera. Mine are PIG, growing well and curiously have lost their spots. You can see some of the spots remain on the bottom, oldest leaves. So I'm pondering the label again. Of course it hasn't flowered yet (about 3 years old), which will add to the info. I guess I wonder if Aloe vera pups start with spots. I have no pups to compare. My plant does not look like the OP's first plants. This post was edited by Crenda on Thu, Aug 7, 14 at 10:23

Okay, I understand. I'm going to keep these two in pretty small pots until they have more roots established. I don't mean tiny pots- just like medium sized I would say. And I will add some small rocks to the top in order to stabilize the plants. Today I unpotted both of my aloes to see how much damage there could be and if any, it would allow me to remove the damage and let them callus over before repotting this weekend or so. The roots of the smaller aloe look pretty good to me- there is plenty of new growth (including new baby roots and additional growth on the longer, older ones). This was the aloe with the two leaves on the bottom that turned yellow and shriveled up- which I was told was normal and the plant was just shedding the older leaves. These leaves were easily removed from the base with gentle pulling. Just wondering if you guys agree with me and the roots look good and this one can be planted as normal in the new gritty soil. Two pictures of the smaller aloe: Next, was the bigger aloe which I wasn't happy with. As can be expected, it's roots did suffer. So I trimmed off the dying roots and was left with barely anything. But I was happy to see it has one new root growing! So there is something left there (: My question with this one is should I remove the dark part of old stem that is under the baby root? I don't know if this is rotten or not, it's soft and dark but not mushy or smelly. I'm thinking I should remove it because it's not doing any good but will that much trauma to the plant cause more suffering? Bigger aloe: One more thing, I read about putting cinnamon on any cuts or damage upon transplanting in order to prevent infection. Should this be done immediately or after the plant has had some time to callus? Thanks in advance for any help (: