Sorry to say this, but you pix aren't showing up.

Pls. DO try to post the pix directly here, rather than sending us looking for them.

Pls show us pix of: the plant, the pot & the mix, so that we can address your questions.

Lena

Ah sorry about that. The pot has holes in the bottom of it for drainage. The last image is what I am using.

You should add an equal part of perlite or pumice to the mix. and put it outside SLOWLY. Aloes are sun plants. You need to do it slowly just like one tempers one's skin for a nice summer tan otherwise, you know what happens.

Sometimes keeping a plastic pot with drainage holes inside a ceramic pot without holes is just like having everything in a pot without holes. The water just sits there.

I do have some perlite that I could add. So far I have had it mostly in my window where it gets a bit of light, then I have been sticking it outside in a shady area or sometimes in direct sun. I'll ease back and do it slowly. Is that why the tips are turning color? I find the leaves don't feel very plump either.

I will put it in a little saucer so that if anything drains out it can. As for easing it out into the sun, should I be having it outside in the sun for like 10 minutes for a week and work up to longer periods or?

I have usually work up from an hour a day. Or I put it in a place where it will get morning sun and then push it out to full slowly. The reason why your plant is spindly is because of no light. I know nothing about growing aloes in a NYC apartment up north. I really should just keep my mouth shut.

And may I add - when repotting into better mix, please fill up the pot more so plant is not lost inside of the container...Depending on where you keep it (a table? ground/grass? or...?) you don't even need the saucer.

If you are using the sides of the pot to hold up the plant, don't. Do like Rina says , Fill the pot up to just a inch under the rim and that leaves some room for a top dressing. You can use some positioned rocks on top of the dirt to hold the plant up . Once it has rooted well , take the rocks away.

Thanks for the pix, it gives us a much better idea of your situation. Where in the US are you since you're growing outdoors?

Here's some pix of my Aloes in a west window in NYC. See the height of the soil? See how coarse the mixes look? Note the relative size of plants to pots.

Those are different kinds of Aloes, no Veras though.

With a little tinkering with yours as suggested above, they should be fine.

Lena

I am in Canada but I will use your suggestions to help my plant.

Good luck Amanda, they should be fine.

Wanton, how/why did you bring NYC into this? I thought it meant the OP was from NYC. No, they said no such thing.

Lena, the confused

Sorry, I got you confused with OP. I read real fast and not always correctly. I realized my mistake later. I used to live in NYC as a kid back in the 70's. I can not imagine trying to raise aloes in a NYC apartment. I admire what northerners have to go through to get healthy plants. The buildings that I lived in in NYC and Philadelphia were totally inappropriate for succulents. The windows had no good light expossures.

Thanks, no biggie to get me confused Wanton.

But can you see that my Aloes do pretty well on their west window? (I had an excellent Aloe mentor, who also gifted me w/ loads of pumice, sadly am running out.)

That A juvenna or jacunda even tried to bloom last summer, sadly it blasted its bud. But a friend & Hoya buddy of mine remarked it must have been pretty good light for an Aloe to try to bloom indoors.

It's part of why I took this apartment 28 yrs ago was for the GREAT western light that pours in during Spring & Summer (proximity to the Beach was another).

Lena

Would I be able to put the plant under an artificial light to help it out? Or would I have to gradually work up to that like with the direct sunlight. Have it under it for a few minutes and work up to a longer period? I have added more cactus mix and perlite to it. The soil was pretty damp already but do I need to water it in? How often should I be watering it exactly? I have it near a lamp so that it can try to get some sunlight.

Amanda

If you can keep it outside during summer, it will like it. Yes, it should be acclimatized, and I would do it outdoors - starting with shade for a day or two, than moving to little more light every couple of days or so (depending on how sunny & hot it gets in your location).

You said ..."I have added more cactus mix and perlite to it"... Do you mean that you just topped the existing soil? If yes, that isn't very helpful. It should be mixed thoroughly first, and then plant potted into better mix. And if perlite is the only additional ingredient you have, make sure you add plenty of it; adding just a little doesn't help.

Watering really should not be on schedule but when the soil is almost dry. It is usually difficult to tell when that is; you could help yourself by sticking a bamboo skewer deep into the soil (do not stick it thru the root ball pls.) and see if it come out dry -time to water- or still damp -no watering yet-. If you could get some grit and make even better mix (more porous), excess water will drain out very easily.

Currently it is cloudy and cold outside so I have it inside. But when it was nice I did have it in the shade. I thoroughly mixed the perlite in with the soil. Could not having enough roots cause the aloe to be more stressed and such? They were taken from the mother plant and both didn't really have much roots to begin with. But when adding more soil and such they both seem to be growing more roots. I am just really worried since it looks like that more of the leaves are turning color and becoming dried and it's travelling down. I don't want the plant to die.

Amanda

Good to hear that you mixed perlite with soil before planting the aloe into it.

Cloudy is great to begin with (but how cold is cold? - what part of Canada are you in?)

I was waiting for some cloudy days to arrive to take my succulents outside and did managed to get out many this morning. And they got a bonus - good shower :) I just posted a thread about that -here-

I live on the East side of Canada in Newfoundland and currently it's 6 degrees Celsius. We have been getting some rain but it's pretty chilly today.

How cold at night?. They can take right up to freezing and a tad below if it is dry. I grow mine in the soil and I throw a blanket over when it gets to -3ºc

I'm not entirely sure how cold it gets, it's supposed to be cold for the next few days. Maybe around 4 degrees Celsius tonight. Just it's been raining so it's inside right now near a light to give it some sun. Or is having it sort of near a light not good?

YAY! another Canadian east coaster! I grow quite a few Aloes in coastal Nova Scotia, they stay indoors in a south facing window for winter and go outside when night temps are staying above 0 degrees Celsius. All the advice you have been given is good. Remember Aloes can handle cold, but cold and wet is not good, so don't water during cold periods. I don't think you have to worry about burning it too much in the sun in your location, but you can put it outside Ina shaded area for a few days and gradually move it every few days into a sunnier location.

happy growing, and feel free to ask more questions!

breton

I put it under a porch roof if I am getting too much moisture. Some species get this scaring on the leaves from too much moisture besides the root rot problem.

Amanda

Good to know your location - so you have great advice from someone near you, breton. And wantonamara has given you great advice too - while warmer locale, she gets winter too :)

I would give it all the light indoors that is possible, few minutes is nothing. Unless you use an incandescent lightbulb, you won't burn it - and burning would happen from the heat produced, not the light intensity. What kind of lights do you have?

Whenever it is outside it is sheltered from rain but the leaves turning color and becoming drier wasn't from it getting wet outside. When it was outside it was only for a few hours, I wouldn't leave it outside all night. The leaves were already starting to turn color when I got it. I am using a CFL bulb 2500k I think or around there. I use them for other plants but it's not near the plant. Both plants barely had any roots when I received them and I assume they were taken directly from the mother plant.

Some rose and red coloring of the leaves is a sun tan. I like it when my aloes turn a color.

CFL 2500k is not that strong, I buy min. 4000k and most are 6500k. They do not emit too much heat, you could start with farther away for as many hours as you want, and move it eventually as close as few inches from the plant. I use many CFL bulbs in winter, and leave them on min. 12 hrs.

You could also try bottom heat - I don't know about aloe vera, but many succulents will root faster if they have warmer feet.

Sorry I meant to say 6500k. Currently I have the aloe in between two 6500k lamps at about 2 feet apart from it. I do have a heating pad just I don't want to do more damage to the plant.

No damage from heat pad. Or you can just leave it to callus, without potting it up, and without any watering-misting-spraying. Sooner or later the root nubs will start growing and you can pot it up then.

It is already potted up and the roots are starting to grow. Can I place the pot on the heating pad and it would help and not damage the plant?

Amanda, pls THINK for a moment.

Folks are here HELPING you & will NOT give advice which would damage the plant. Really, I can almost promise!

Lena

I know, just I was a little concerned since they weren't sure about the aloe plant and heat. I really do appreciate everyone's input and will try the heating pad and see if it helps. c: