Hard to see the soil, and to know what 'dries in no time' translate to in hours/days. Watering more often may be the answer. About the pests, did you treat for them? I'm not the person to give advice on root pests, but consider that as well, such as root mealies.

ez

I treated the pests. the potting mix is equal parts lava rock and soil and crushed pine bark. it dries completely in about 2 hours. I water once every week maybe more.

How do you know it's dry t/o? Do you stick a wooden skewer deep into it to test for wetness? Or another method? If my plants' soil was dry in two hours' time, I would probably be watering them every day.

ez

i can tell by the weight and the look of it from the bottom and the top. do you think the yellow leaf is from being under-watered? it doesn't look like rot does it?

My best guess from afar is that the stress of mealies and a repot, f/b the stress of sun and heat, have taken their toll. Place it where it gets morning sun and midday shade for a while until it recovers.

ez

This Aloe is sensitive to overwatering; be careful not to overdo the water. Periods of dryness will not hurt. "One cannot underwater this plant" -- see this.

"One cannot underwater this plant but many a grower (us included) will note that this plant can rot out at its base if over irrigated or if soil is not well draining; this being said, others say that they can irrigate with impunity without any problems."

Maybe more folks on this forum will weigh in with their experiences.

ez

i live in turkey. most of my succulents are under full sun the entire day. i use smaller pieces of bark in the soil. it may not be 2 hours I've never timed it but it sure dries fast enough.

do you guys think i should take the plant out of the pot and check the roots for rot?

the leaves are firm but not as plump as they used to be. is the plant entering dormancy because its hot? but then looking at your aloe, the leaves are the same. they are kinda curled in like yours are (which made me worry in the first place) the leaves used to be more "succulent".

I am not sure what you mean by leaves curled. Here is the photo of same aloe growing in botanical garden found on this site

Old leaves naturally die. If you have too many yellowing at the same time, and they are soft/mushy, there could be rot problem.
I keep all my succulents outdoors in summer, in most sunshine I can supply. I don't water them that often, usually they get 'watered' when it rains. During winter they have to be indoors, under some supplemental lights. My aloe may not be as compact as yours.

Main growing periods are Spring and Autumn. They don't like too much water, I wonder if your mix could hold more water than you thing since it more of it is soil and bark - 2 organic components that could stay wetter.

Btw, leaves on my the young plants are more 'plump' than leaves on mature plant.

I have finally decided to take it out of the pot and have a look. you were right about the soil holding much more water than i thought it would. it had lost most of its roots so i think the plant couldn't take up enough water therefore making the leaves shrink. although there were no signs of rot, I cut the bottom bit of it and sprinkled some cinnamon on it. i will repot in a better soil once it shoots out some roots. i hope it will be okay!

Bold work! I think this plant is in good hands!

ez

Good you checked, You did right thing since it is difficult to see what is really going on inside...The mix you have is good for many plants but not so much for succulents except for some like Christmas and Thanksgiving and Spring/Easter cacti, they like barky and more organic mix, and some jungle-type succulents.

this might sound stupid but now that i have cut the base of the plant off, i am wondering if it will grow new roots because i know that aloes don't grow roots out of leaves. do they grow roots out of their stems?