I don't grow many Aloes, and no Aloe Vera, so my experience admittedly may not help. To be honest, I think you have two issues aside from the pups. One is that the very bottom leaves appear curled in and dry; the second is that soil looks to me like it's not well-draining enough. I have 60+ succulents (Haws, Gasteria, Euphorbia, other Aloe) and of those in soil, I use a 50/50 combination of cactus/succulent soil and pumice (or in a pinch, perlite). I sift and wash both the pumice and perlite.

I am guessing that your plant is essentially healthy, since it is growing pups, but that the existing soil is too water-retentive for the roots and, hence, may be impairing the lower leaves. If it were me, I'd give the whole plant a repot into better draining soil.

But -- about the pups. I have two Gasterias that are currently growing pups from "within the body" of the plant itself, like yours. One is a large Gasteria glomerata I've had for about 5 years. It has never grown pups independently, but now has 2 little ones growing from within the plant body. They're cute, but the whole thing looks odd -- yet healthy. The other is a small Gasteria pillansii that has a pup on the outside, and now one inside the body too. I don't think pups deplete a mother plant of nutrients. They are simply additional plants that the mother plant sustains. For myself, I'm going to wait and see what develops. Hope all this helps in some little way. Hilary, good luck with your aloe.

Thanks you! Yes I'm definitely going to change the soil and the pot,I have a terracotta one sitting near by on standby! Will see if it will help the leaves!

And thanks for the information about the pups, if it's more common then I am less worried now!

Hi Karen,

Thank you for your advice, i will definitely find a smaller pot, I had been reading they don't actuallly need that much space. Will try and get one today or tomorrow so i can replant, hopefully i will find the pumice stones in store. After i moved here , i'm still struggling to get a handle on where to find everything!

I too get especially protective over my plants, didn't realise what had been done until it was too late, but true I will make that clear in future, because I later found out the Aloe vera was drenched in water immediately after it was replanted. As it was already in a fragile state, I don't think it did it any good.

Yeah I definitely agree, the lower leaves will need to come off, so i will remove them when I am re-potting.and hope for the best, I will also check the root, make sure its nice and healthy and report back!

Hey guys,I'm back!

So I have removed the aloe from the soil, it literally lifted clean up the roots were not holding and there was this weird web thing....almost like a spider had spun a web around the root ball locking it in place which I think explains why all are growing from one area! I'll attach photos!

Anyway the base is rotten but it also looks like there is 2 live roots, one quite clean the other covered in soil. Do we think it can be saved?

Shall I just cut the whole root and let it callous over and grow afresh? OR cut part of the root the dark brown but and leave the two healthy ish looking roots?

What do we think, is there any hope?

I think there is hope :) I think you got it just in time...

Not sure what web-like thing was, but could have been from nursery, where plant was started. They use those nets filled with compressed peat that expand in water. Net is supposedly degradable, but they seem to last for a long time (I have found them in a compost heap maybe 2-3 yrs later..) That is one of the reasons why newly-purchased plants should be repotted, with all original soil removed from the rotball.

Cutting off all damaged flesh is good idea, since rot could spread further. It is of no use, so why to leave it there, possibly causing further damage?

I think you should use sharp blade to clean it up, not leaving ragged edges. Leave all healthy roots. It may be good to wash bottom of the plant to see what needs to be cut off. Let it dry on something absorbent, in shade. You could even dust it lightly with flowers of sulfur or powdered cinnamon, both are fungicides. Not a must, just an extra precaution.

Existing soil is probably water-logging, so do not use it. Make a well draining mix and pot plant in it after it air dries. Put enough mix in the pot so plant is not deep inside. I would let it recover for few days in shady and well ventilated area, and after start moving into more and more sun every few days. Mix robinswfl suggested sounds good:..."I use a 50/50 combination of cactus/succulent soil and pumice (or in a pinch, perlite). I sift and wash both the pumice and perlite"...

Hi Robin! Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly, I had no idea about the nest, that makes a lot of sense!

I have some more photos now I have washed it and yes I will definitely leave it to dry. The three roots actually seem quite sturdy so thats great and not mushy! The very bottom of the root is some what browned but the roots emerging seem white, I'm guessing it is still best to cut this bit off just belpw where the three healthy roots are emerging, what do you think?

Perfect! I have powdered cinnamon so I will definitely be using that. Don't want to take any chances.When you say dusting, do I sprinkle it on top and just leave it forever?or wash it off at some point?

Then yes, I will leave it to dry before re-potting in better soil, can I use a cacti soil and gravel mix? I read that somewhere else as well.

My housemate wanted to re-use the soil for her orchid, but now it has root rot should I advise against this as it could cause the infection to spread?

(This is Rina, not Robin...but close enough!)

Bottom of plant/stem looks ok - it is visible now since you washed it. Just clean up, if any, ragged edges - I really do not see many. That part was in the soil, so most dark color is from it. Rot would be similar color, but mushy/slippery. I do not see that in photos. Cut only if it is soft, not needed otherwise. I use small art brush to get cinnamon on, but you can dip it in too, shake off excess. Or use old toothbrush, or q-tip...It is best not to return excess (that you dipped it in) to the container, in order not to spread possible rot. Use it lightly, do not cake it on (that's why I said dust it :) Put it on after plant has partially dried up. Do not wash it off, just let plant dry up and plant it.

Those roots look quite good. I would trim them slightly if they are too long to fit in the pot (it may not be necessary).

Good catch, Hillary,

If I'm not too late, pls do not cut anything off, you're liable to cut too much off & the plant will collapse if you cut into its crown.

Looks like you got it just in time. Rina gave good advice, I was going to suggest the cinnamon too. I don't usually wash the roots, I crumble the soil off dry. But washing it here actually allowed us to see you DO have some viable roots there; seems all is NOT lost.

Sprinkle the Cinnamon on the roots, then pls pick the plant up & shake off the excess. Then pot it up DRY & pls do not water it for 3-4 days at least to allow the roots to heal any injury from them being handled.

Perlite will definitely work in place of pumice, don't know abt the gravel, it may be too big.

After all is done, just as curiosity, wash off that netting thing & pls see if you can spread it open btwn your fingers.

I think it's some kind of synthetic mesh; they don't usually degrade over time. I don't know what these nurseries are thinking; but I'd be curious to see it clean, splay out btwn your fingers.

Its presence would explain why the pups are pushing up & out thru the center of the plant, instead of the regular coming out from nearby or underneath the mother plant.

I recently repotted a ZZ plant plant, only to find a large piece of screen stuck to the bottom of the plant's roots.

Great save!! We look forward to updates in future.

Hi, Sorry Rina! i literally read then typed incorrectly,

Yeah its actually healthier than i imagined, the root was a only slightly mushy looking at the bottom, I chopped it off before i read this, but hopefully it should be fine.

Perfect I dusted with cinnamon and I shall leave it to dry and heal up now for a couple days before I pot it.

I also removed 3 of the 5 baby shoots coming off the mother plant, and i will see if they will root to in a separate pot, I know this is said to take months, but I thought i may aswell try it in a tiny pot, rather thank keep all 5 on there.

At the very least, the problem has more or less been solved, time to just let mother nature do its thing now!

Thanks for all your help!

Ahh Karen, sorry I already cut! hopefully it will be okay, i didn't cut much off as i wanted to keep the three live roots, I shall attach a photo! Perlite, okay I shall see if i can find it here, will go to a garden centre on the weekend!

I was going to leave it for 4 or 5 days to let it dry up completely, is this advisable or should I pot it up as soon as possible because it still has some roots?

Let me fish the netting out and investigate further

Here is the cut root and its pups in the cinnamon. Unfortunately my knife wasn't quite sharp enough so it's not as smooth as I would like but hopefully it will recover!

Here is the netting before and after. I tried to wash it as much as I can but then it started breaking.

They look great, you did a nice job. I might have let the pups get a bit bigger before removing them, but done is done, Just do try to find a very small pot.

Thanks for cleaning up & showing the netting, I'm sure it was the nursery for their use starting small plants, as Rina suggested.

Good work & a bit of a lesson for us all, thanks!

Those pellets are made with net (which you found) and it is advertised as degradable Roots often grow thru them if left in place...here are pellets before expansion:

Just to make it clear: I am thinking you mean you cut some off bottom of the stem, not actually roots? Just for the future: maybe you should get really sharp blade/knife dedicated to cutting plants - it really is best to make clean cuts, and (something that wasn't mentioned) wipe it between each cut with a cloth/paper towel moistened with rubbing alcohol (or peroxide, or even bleach solution will work). This is to disinfect in case there was active rot (or another disease).

You don't have to let callus plant for 4-5 days but you could if you want to. Roots will be ok even for longer time. Succulents recover from being kept dry better than if kept wet.

Hi guys,

Thanks Karen, yeah I should have left them on really in hindsight as it was growing fine with them, but yeah I will try and get a much smaller pot for all the aloes.

Rina, yeah sorry only cut off the very bottom of the stem and left the roots that were remaining unharmed. Ah okay yeah I will definitely look into that along with the running alcohol! Thanks for all the info and about the netting to, it makes sense! I thought a spider had spun a weird web around it 😂

Okay perfect, I will keep the super dry and like you said not water it for a couple days/week till I think its healthy.

Shall I only give it a small amounts

of water at the start rather than the classic drench and leave for 2 weeks?

Plants with roots shall be watered thoroughly, BUT only if they are in well draining potting mix. That is why so much talk about mixes that are not too fine, too water-retentive. Watering could start immediately, day-two after or after longer time: it all depends on how wet plant was before potted again, and it's condition. Pot into dry mix, leave overnight or longer if needed and start regular watering. I believe bamboo/wooden skewer/chopstick/stick 'test' for subsequent watering was mentioned. It is good way for ppl that are not sure to check how dry or moist mix is, and if watering is in order or not. Eventually, one should recognize plants needs, it takes just paying little attention. No need to be "helicopter mom" tho, lol. Watering shouldn't be on schedule, but whenever plant needs it. That varies, depending on temps, light, weather etc. It may be little more regular(schedule-like) if plants are indoors, where conditions are bit more stable/same.