I just received an aloe plant in the mail from a relative in Arizona. I live in the Pacific Northwest. I planted it in some damp potting soil and it's been about a week, but I've been noticing some problems. Some of the leaves have gotten thin and dry with brown spots, which I read was a sign of underwatering. But some of the very small leaves from offshoots have pulled out with a mushy base, which seems like over watering. Now I'm not sure what to do. The soil was dry so I watered it today, but not sure if it was the right thing to do.

That second picture looks like it might have traveled through freezing temperatures in the mail. Excess temperature (both hot and cold) can sometimes take a few days to manifest.

If you show us pictures of the whole plant including pot and soil there might be another obvious explanation. If the soil is currently damp, do not water more.

It is still a new plant to your area, so it may not have developed viable new roots.

Typically for a new Aloe Vera that has no roots yet, they are planted in dry, succulent media. I usually add some more pumice too to make sure it is gritty. You have to patiently wait. It does take time to acclimate and grow new roots. It needs as much warmth and bright light.

I does seem to show some cold damage. It will now depend how healthy the main core is. As long as the base remains healthy, no mushy part, a new growth may emerge from the middle. In the meantime, refrain from watering. No roots, then nothing is being absorbed and the plant will just consume whatever moisture it has stored in its leaves.

Hi & welcome!

Did it have roots?

Thanks all for your quick responses!

The aloe plant had roots when I got it. It was dug out of the yard and sent to me with roots and just the dirt clinging to them. Not sure how long it was out of the ground before I received it, but I don't think it was very long. Some of the brown in the pictures is just dirt that I never washed off while others are thinning dry spots

I am sending more pictures. No more small leaves have pulled out yet, and the ones that had were all on their lonesome so it's possible that they were suffering from cold like was suggested.

It hasn't gotten any worse since I gave it a cup of water yesterday, and although it's too soon to tell, it does look a little better.

The tiny new shoot by the edge of the pot has grown an inch since I planted it, although it's a bit pale.

One other thing I noticed is it seems like there are two plants sharing the root structure which I didn't notice until I planted. Do I need to separate them after it seems like it's recovered sufficiently? And if not, is the pot big enough?

Looks like you have several plants there and they've had a rough journey but should recover just fine. I think it could use a rest for awhile until you see new growth, and then you can consider some environmental changes. Right now, remove some top soil because it appears to be planted too deeply and that will cause leaf rot. Give it full sun, let it dry btwn waterings and and never let it sit in saucer water.

Once you see new growth, it will be happiest in gritty, well draining soil and a terracotta pot. The new pot should be no larger than that one, or smaller if you divide, and ideally shallower. Right now, the important thing is to not overwater and give it lots of sun. If others who grow aloes think you should repot now, I won't argue, but I'm thinking it could use a rest right now.

Edit to add—the reason I think it needs repotted is that soil looks peaty and water retentive, which I think might not be good in your climate.

I just now took photos of mine that is about the same size as yours, indoors for the cold winter. There are three plants in that 8" pot. Note how the leaves are not under the soil...it's a good idea to see stalk above the soil at the base.

I was thinking it should have a rest as well. I know the new climate and different dirt were quite the shock to it. Is there a particular brand of soil you use? I have never had a potted aloe plant before.

I will take some dirt out too. Thanks for that tip. I actually was thinking it needed more because it was leaning a bit, but now I'm thinking that may have been part of the cause of the small leaves on the outskirts that pulled out.

You're aloe looks amazing. I hope mine starts to looks that way soon!

It's common for aloes to have trouble standing upright after being potted. Prop them with sticks or rocks until their roots take hold.

Here is a thread in which many members discuss their succulent & cactus mixes.
https://garden.org/thread/go/1...

Notice they range from simple to specialized, but what all have in common is they are fast draining. I suggest reading as many of those posts as you want to get a sense of it.

I'm not a specialty grower and usually use what I have on hand, but roughly I combine equal parts bagged cactus mix, coco coir, and pumice or perlite. Sometimes just ~50/50 cactus mix and pumice or perlite. I prefer pumice but it's not always as available as perlite (which annoyingly floats to the top of pots). Btw, do not put a layer of stones or gravel in the bottom of the pot. I'm neither consistent nor scientific about proportions but because I have numerous outdoor pots, I've sort of gotten a feel for it.

With a free-draining mix, you'll water more often than you might be accustomed to, but the good part is that it's very difficult to overwater, and that is what kills most indoor aloes (water-retentive soil never fully dries down below and eventually rots the roots). If your plant is indoors, carry the pot to the sink and water thoroughly until the growing medium is completely saturated and water has run through several times, then let it drain in the sink before putting the pot back into its saucer. When I put my plants outside for spring to fall, I rarely use saucers. You can add diluted fertilizer every few waterings.

Thanks for the soil info. I'll definitely have to get different soil. I just used what I had on hand because the plant was a surprise and I was unprepared. Do you think it's okay to repot it with new soil now? Or should I wait until it has recovered some more?

This question gets asked a lot, and while the prevailing wisdom is that back-to-back repottings are excessively stressful and it's the wrong time of year, I think you need to weigh those risks against the risks of drowning the plant in peaty soil.

That said, I still lean toward waiting a bit, but do remove that soil from the leaf base and be judicious with water. If you're not sure, err on the side of underwatering. Give it lots of light. Spring can't be too far off where you live, right?

Up until yesterday it was looking just fine, but I noticed a drooping leaf with a giant mushy spot in the middle, so I went ahead and repotted it today. I used a cacti soil and also used less, leaving the stalks exposed. Fingers crossed it will be okay. My only question now is should I wait to water it sonit can dry out some? And if so, how long should I wait?

And unfortunately while spring is just around the corner, this past week has been all rain and clouds. Not a sunny day for awhile, which I know isn't ideal, but not much I can do.

Not much we can do about the weather. Is it outside? Can you shelter it?

Yes, let it dry for a a week or so. See if you can remove the mushy leaf.

It is inside because we have been the weather here changes so frequently this time of year. If we end up with some sunny days I will put it out and then bring it back in at dark, but we have barely seen the sun in over a week.

And thank you for the watering advice. I kind of figured I shouldn't water it yet. Is there any signs I should look for as far as when to water it again?

And I did remove the dead leaf because I figured it was spending unnecessary energy trying to heal what cannot be healed. I also carefully removed as much of the moist soil from the previous planting from the root ball as I could, so I think that will help it recover as well.

Best to leave it indoors by a south window until the weather stabilizes rather than moving it back and forth. Mostly you're watching for it not to get worse. Mush is definitely not good. Water in few days, then let it dry almost completely before watering again.

Good luck!

I only have a west and north window unfortunately. But the west one gets good light when it's not too cloudy.

I will keep it inside instead of moving it back and forth though. My husband said the same thing.

So far so good though. No new mushy spots and I removed the one bad leaf

Thank you for all of your help! I'll keep you updated 🙂

I'm a fan of moving plants out on nice days because most daytimes are great for plants where I am, but if I forget one frosty night, it's all over. When I wasn't working FT, I did this and didn't have any etiolation or sunburns.

I don't disagree with that, Tiffany. In this case, since there are a few issues, I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible without adding warnings about sunburn, rain and frost to the list so that if another symptom appears it will (might?) be easier to diagnose.

Good to know. Thank you. I can get busy myself and not be there to bring plants back in, but in the summer it will be okay because it doesn't rain much and never gets cold at night.

And my husband said the same thing about not moving it around too much while it's healing. I'm going to just wait and see because I want to be able to notice new symptoms without wondering if it's something I did with temp and light changes, etc.

XtraPepperoniartX said:

Your aloe plant looks healthy overall. I'm not an expert, but I have a few aloe plants myself, and in this climate, aloe is a "hard to kill" plant. I've even seen them grow on old concrete A few damaged leaves may turn yellow and fall off, but as long as the majority of the leaves aren't withered and yellowish, your plant should be fine. Aloe plants are pretty resilient and can regrow even from roots or leaves, so don't worry too much.

Don't overwater it. Aloe doesn't like wet soil and prefers to dry out a bit between watering. Also, the pot seems a bit small for the plant. It's okay for now, but you may want to repot it in a larger pot later on. Doing it now could be stressful to the plant.

Btw, just a quick note that I'm not sure how aloe plants react to the climate in Washington since it's quite different from here. Here, we have a hot ( 20 to 34 degrees C) and highly humid climate all year round. So it's possible that your aloe plant may have different needs depending on your location. good luck :smily:

Thanks everyone. I'll keep updating as the week goes on.