Gently peel off the yellowed bottom leaves. It's normal. The rest of the plant looks fine. As for the shriveled leaves, I'm waiting for that answer, too. Probably water related.

I agree with the above comment. That's the first thing I noticed. Too large of a pot combined with a soil that's too water retentive.

@imontestella When you say "far too water retentive", what are you referring to, the soil or the pot? Because that is a clay pot so if a go down to a smaller pot putting it in another clay pot won't solve the problem as it's already in clay. As for the soil concern, it's in a succulent soil mix so are you saying that the soil it's in now is holding too much water? Thank you for the helpful comment, I just don't really understand if you gave a reason as to why the bottom leaf is falling off. If you could clarify that would be great, thanks!

It isa size of the pot, not material it is made of. And to me, it looks like it is glazed - they don't 'breathe' same as clay/terracotta. Ad there needs to be drainage hole. And the soil should be fast draining. Good drainage is important for both the container and the potting mix.

If succulent sits in wet soil for a while, the roots may start rotting. Finer the soil, longer it takes for it to dry up. Lots of soil (as in case of using pot that is oversized) will take long time to dry. Small plant looks lost in big container - but that is JMO :)

Hi Kayla,

Sorry your plant is ailing but it is.

No, I said nothing abt the bottom leaf, nor would I remove it. It's natural ordinarily to come off, but yours isn't looking like that yet, so I wouldn't remove it 'til it dries up as the plant can still use it.

As Dave agreed, it's the soil that's too water retentive & the pot that's too big, keeping a larger volume of soil more wet than the plant can manage, which its why it's starting to fail.

I hear that you say it's already in Cactus & Succulent mix (our experience here is that even so, those C&S mixes still need amending w/ 50% perlite) to be fast draining enough for succulents. You could also read up on gritty mixes (very popular here, tho' I myself do not use them). I currently grow 6 different Aloes myself in fast draining mixes w/ lots of added pumice.

It's not the type of pot (what it's made of); it's the size & amount of soil it holds. When that much soil stays wet that long, it impairs the plant's ability to take in air (needs to be almost dry for that). So it can drown from being too wet & suffocate from not getting enough oxygen.

I'm not trying to be difficult Kayla, pls. read around the Cactus & Succulent Forum sort of next door (see top of front page) for other Aloe Vera posts. You'll likely see similar cautions & comments.

Also, since there are no saucers under your plants, it suggests there are no holes in the bottom of the pots -- if that's so, it's a recipe for disaster, irrespective of what other issues the plant may or may not have.

Again, I'm trying to help here, apologies if it sounds confusing. If you do the reading I'm suggesting, you'll see more clearly what we mean.

@imontestella Okay, so I'm understanding now that you mean it's too much soil and the soil it's in is too water retentive. I just needed clarification (: I'll repot it; is there a difference between perlite and pumice? You said the succulent soil needs added perlite but then you said your plants are in a pumice mix. So are those the same things? If not, what should I be adding to my soil?

I don't think you're being difficult nor have I found direct answers to my questions in reading the other aloe posts in the forum you mentioned. I didn't think it would be a problem for me to post my own topic, but I'm new here so I guess I didn't really know.

As for the hole, when I got this plant it was in a container with no hole and had rocks in the bottom. I kept it in that container for about 2 years and that's where it did the best honestly. It was dark green with plump leaves and grew so much! But by the time I repotted it a few months ago I did learn by then that the rocks in the bottom aren't really sufficient enough for draining. I was afraid to change what was working so well for the plant though so there is a layer of rocks in the bottom of this container as well. I guess if you don't think it's too big of a change I could find a new smaller pot that has a drainage hole.

Thanks again for your help!

Use perlite.

As stated, mix it 50/50 with your cactus mix.

Downsize to a non glazed terra cotta pot.

Dont use rocks in the bottom of pots. It actually does the opposite of what people think it does. It ends up making the soil hold onto more water.

Mske sure new pot has a drain hole.

Thats all you need to do.

@Dave Thanks for the help! Why do you think that the rocks make the drainage worse? This particular aloe loved it's old container with rocks for drainage. I'm not disagreeing with you and when I repot it I intend to switch it to a pot with a hole but I just don't get how this belief came to be!

read this gravel in soil

Kayla, I can promise you your plant didn't love the rocks and lack of drainage. No plant does.

Follow the link above.

@Mentha Thank you! A little explanation always helps! I don't see why people are so quick to judge a living situation I had a plant live in when it fared so well! I just like to know the reasoning behind all these statements.

No one is judging. It may have seemed well, but over time issue would have popped up.

People here are trying to help and give you good advice and also help you rid any bad habits you may have picked up.

Dont take offense.

I think you may be taking some offense, Dave. If you noticed I have accepted all advice that was given to me and I said that I will be repotting the plant into a better living habitat. I understand that I wasn't caring for my aloe plant as well as I could have; that's why I came here for help! I simply asked for an explanation as to why it is said that rocks are terrible for drainage yet mine survived for two years in rocks. There's no harm in gaining more knowledge (:

"I don't understand why people are so quick to judge."

is what my response was directed towards.

I was giving an explanation. I was not trying to come off rude in anyway.

Things can definitely be taken the wrong way via internet and that wasn't my intent.

Why would I be offended? Were getting off topic at this point though.

I think we both got defensive because we were offended! No worries though, you're right, it's easy to take things as they are not intended over the internet! Once again, I want to thank you for your help!

Glad to help!

Hi Kayla,

i just moved an aloe that was in soil for about two years into a gravel pumice mix. I did that about three or four weeks ago I think. Yesterday, I noticed that the new roots were growing through the bottom of new pot already. And the aloe has only been watered twice. It's much, much more healthy looking, too !

I am saying all this to give you encouragement about considering a move to a less water retentive medium (and a smaller pot, perhaps). I realize that you are working your way through a lot of new information here. Just wanted you to know how it worked for me in the hopes of giving you some confidence.

ETA: to make things easy for yourself, you could do as suggested above, just add perlite to your cactus mix. I personally would do a bit more perlite and less mix. Make sure your sift the perlite first to get out smaller particles and dust. Then plop that plant in the mix, in a smaller terra-cotta pot, and don't water it. Let it be for about a week, then give it a good watering.

Make sure the drainage hole is big enough to allow for good fast drainage.

perhaps others will chime in with amendments to my suggestion.....

Lauren, thanks so much for the additional info! So there is no soil in your current mix? I've done a lot of reading about the gritty mixes that contain no soil and I don't think they're for me. I want to try what Imontestella previously said and mix my current soil with perlite. Is perlite similar to what you have? I'm hoping this new mix will have adequate drainage for the aloe but if not then I will consider going to a soil-less mix.

Awesome, I will make a new mix for the plant and get a smaller pot for it with a drainage hole! I think I will do more perlite than soil and see how that goes for me. As a side note, do you think that mix would do well for all succulents? It would be nice to have a base mix for all my plants. And I have a few other succulents.

Hi: no, my aloe has no soils whatsoever:). It is a mix of grit and pumice, with very little pumice actually. The aloe just doesn't need lots of water, so it took to the mix well.

What lmonstella said is great advice if you don't want to do a soilless mix. Perlite and pumice are different, but you can get perlite much easier. They have it at Home Depot and some Walmart even.

the key, I think, is to sift the perlite first and make sure the dust and litttle pieces are out. Then add soil to it. A fifty fifty mix is fine. I personally prefer more of a 75-25 mix. Then just make sure that your pot has very good drainage. And terra-cotta is good choice because the soil won't stay wet for as long as if would in a plastic pot.

When you repot, don't water immediately. Give it about a week,

maybe you can try a soilless mix on it later. Or, you could get a little test aloe from Home Depot and experiment with that one:).

In response to your question about a base mix: if you don't want to experiment with soilless mixes and have different mixes for different plants, then, yes, I think a fifty fifty mix of perlite and soil would be a safe base mix for most succulents. The only thing I personally worry about is that the cactus mixes tend to be peat based and contain sand (miracle grow anyway). I find that overtime the mix breaks down and it can become sludge. So you would have to repot more. But that is just me.

I order black orchid cactus mix from my local ace hardware. It is the only cactus mix that I know of that has no peat and can be used straight from the bag. You could consider that as an option. And I use it for regular plants as well. It's very, very nice.

there are some succulents that do much better in a soilless mix. Over time, you may want to just try it with one or two little succulents and see how you feel about it. But in the meantime, I think you'd be fine with a base mix of perlite and cactus mix. Just sift carefully and keep an eye out for the mix drifting toward the bottom of the pot, where it can start to get sludge like.

Sorry for the overly long response.....

@Lauren awesome, thanks so much for all the info! I have repotted all my aloes into a soil/perlite mix now and I hope they like that better. I'll have to try find where I could get that black orchid cactus mix, that sounds great!

Eventually, I may experiment with a soilless mix. The thing is that right now I go to college but come home on the weekends. Since there's not really a good, sunny place at my house at college I keep them at home under a grow light. So I'm not with my plants everyday! So I'm worried that with a soilless mix I would actually underwater the plants. But eventually once I live at a permanent place I would love to try the soilless mixes, they sound great.

Sounds great. Just remember to not overwater it. They need less water than you think they do.

I totally get what you are saying about the soilless mix. It's sounds like you have a great alternative plan.

please keep us updated!!

I will be sure to keep you updated! I'm excited for warmer weather to get here and hopefully give my guys some strong light and time outside! (:

As long as you expose them gradually to it Binks, a few hrs a day to start, lest they burn.

Thanks for the advice Karen, I will be sure to gradually expose the plants to more light come warmer weather (:

The best way I've found to acclimate is by placing outside in an area that gets full ambient light from the sky, but no sun.

Leave it like that for a week and then place it in full sun for one hour a day, then two hours the next day and so on until it's in full sun all day.

I do that with my 7' ficus Benjamina every May and I never get a single burned leaf (it has well over 500).

Dave, I would bet that your Benjamina has more than 500 leaves!

Rina, you're right! I've never counted haha!

We can play the guessing game...person that will guess closest will get the price. Maybe the Benji should be the price, lol!

That game sounds good! However, I feel terrible for the person that would have to actually count the leaves. Aka me!

Blinks: Aloe and other cactus/succulents
will be fine in fast draining mix without being watered for a week or
two. In fact, they will do better. Especially in winter when they get
less light and lower temps. They just do not need that water. They are
adapted to drought conditions and they very good at sucking out last
drop of water from the soil when they need it. They have the reverse
problem. Soil too wet too long will rot their roots.

As for rocks for drainage you can do this experiment. Take an empty
pot with a drain hole. Put a sponge at the bottom and soak it well. Let
it drain. Do the same with rocks at the bottom with the sponge on top of
it. You will see that in both cases the sponge holds on to same amount
of water. A water retentive soil is just like that sponge.

2nd part of the experiment: Squeeze that wet sponge as hard as you
can. Get rid of as much of water as you can. The sponge will still be
moist. It will hold onto that bit of water for a long time.

Water loving plant do not have that ability to fight with soil
particles (think sponge) to let it part with the water. Those need to be
watered frequently. Aloe on the other hand has tremendous ability to
extract that last bit of water if it "needs" it. Much more than you and I
can squeeze the water out of that sponge.

Also remember water needs of plant depends on the conditions: mainly
light and temperature. If a plant is vigorously growing it has a lot
higher ability to withstand wet conditions, pests and diseases.

I tried to make the explanation in as simple terms without the science part. Hope that helps.

great explanation TOC. Binks I think your Aloes on going to be on the right track to recovery. Keep us informed.

TOC, thank you for the great explanation! Thankfully, I did know that aloes need little water given over a length of time due to their water-retaining abilities. So I know I haven't been overwatering my plants! I think I have light and temperature pretty well worked out for the time being during winter, just getting them into pots with draining holes and better soil is what I need to fix! Which I'm doing (:

Vance, I will do that! I repotted all my succulents (minus my aloes- fail) this past weekend but I ran out of big enough pots for my aloes! So I will be doing that this weekend, I'm quite excited to get them into a better living situation!

Glad that it helps. For Aloes and Jades that are very top heavy, I prefer gritty type mix (Grit + Turface and sometimes a little bark). It makes the pot heavier and thus more stable. More important is that provides plenty of air, holds enough water and does not decompose. For big plants the weight can be a problem though.

You need to pot up roots, not the leaves :) - jk.

It was already mentioned that your glazed pot is quite large. You could use any size pot, if you make sure the potting mix drains well. Your plant will grow and pup under good conditions, so it could be in large container - the problem is using water retaining soil in large container.

Tropic already suggested using grit to make pot heavier in order to stabilize it somehow. I often put a rock or 2 on top for the same reason...

As rina said size of the pot does not matter if you have a fast draining mix. With a top heavy plant like Aloe putting some rocks around the base is also helpful just to keep it stable and upright. Especially, when have very few roots to start with. Sometimes I tie the plant to a chopstick/skewer or two with the stick extending below to the base of the pot. This helps to keep the plant supported while it grows more roots to support itself.

I have one in 10" pot (not A. vera), but it is in very gritty mix. The reason is that plant is quite large, and pups a lot. Right now, there are 4 pups of pretty good size, and 4 have been removed (too big, too crowded).

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 (:

The first two are pretty good. For the last one take a sharp knife and start slicing from the bottom a little at a time to see how the tissues look like. But I think it is in good condition to survive. As for cinnamon I have never used it. Research shows that it is very effective against candida fungus (the common fungus that causes infection in humans such as athletes foot). So it is likely that it may be effective against others too. All I can say for sure is my cinnamon plant never gets any disease or pests.

Those first two roots look great. I don't think you need the cinnamon. You just need to put them in the soil and leave them be. Don't water.

I agree with Tropic that the third looks promising providing you cut back all the rot. You could put that one in pure perlite (since it's sterile) and let it recover after you cut it back. It might be a good idea to leave it out for a few days prior to let the cut part callous.

The most important thing, I think, is to not water right away.

ETA: These are very resilient plants. Cutting away potentially rotted stem will not traumatize it.

Well that's good news then! I'm glad the bigger one has a chance. I will cut it back from the bottom until I see healthy tissue and I think I'll leave that one out for a couple days to callus. The other one I'll plant right away!

So Lauren, I know you said the one with good roots doesn't need cinnamon but do you think I should dust cinnamon on the one I will be cutting? From what Tropic said, it sounds great!

Oh, sure, definitely follow tropic's advice on that. I think plenty of people do this for fresh succulent cuttings. And it won't hurt, I think.

i will say once again, and I am sorry to keep repeating this, but do not water anything. You'll be tempted to, but don't.