Hey guys I'm very new here, and looking for some advice

I have several aloe plants that as of spring have been looking rather rough, they have floated between indoor partial light, supplemented with plant lights as well as out doors.
For years I've kept them in my living room with little natural light just using a plant light a few hours a day, and they thrived. I've had several pups from them at that time period they were growing large and lush.
Last winter I moved them into a north facing window, so that I wouldn't have to use my lamps anymore and things went a little wonky after.

I've tried repotting them in clay pots (previously in plastic liners in glass pots) with fresh soil, watering more frequently, less frequently, moving them out doors and returning them to there original home with zero success of them bouncing back.

One of them always looked a little sickly (received it as a gift). Anytime it started looking healthy it would reproduce, and start dying again, I kept just gently removing the little pups and tossing them as they came up in an attempt to save the mother plant. Finally I caved and removed them properly and planted them. The mother has been slowly dying since.



Please any advice would be greatly appreciated

Plants don't like to be moved. Different light levels can shock a plant. Also the less light a plant gets the less water you should give it. During the winter months mine receive little sun light. In turn for my 5 mo. of winter I water my aloe only 2 or 3 times all winter.

@plantjunky
i have over 50 aloes but not aloe vera
The plants do not look dehydrated, so for me you are getting some basic aspects of their care wrong (insufficient light, too little heat or watering problems) Other contributing environmental factors are poor soil type or container type. You can also water using bad watering techniques (letting water get between the leaves or water or too soon after repotting before the roots have healed).

The first thing that comes up with bending aloe leaves is insufficient light (see caption below). Where is your location? A north facing window in arizona is not the same as north facing window in Iceland. I am keeping aloes in a more northerly location than most here, but i have to go for south facing windows and use a very fast draining soil mix. I also have to be very careful with watering. If you are indoors you should try to give the plant as must sun exposure as possible. North facing windows in the UK would spell disaster for me i am sure.

I can't see any rot in the pics but if any of the stems are brown or soft or if the roots are black and limp you are over watering (at least for the conditions they are in).

The other point i would make is that aloes don't like change and can sulk and look bad for quite a time until they settle in new conditions , even if it might be suitable conditions in the long term .So don't change too many things and once and don't expect them to bounce back in few days

Check for rot first. If they are not rotting, let them dry out for a day or so and plant then up in a fast draining soil mix (keep the leaves out of the soil) and put them in a bright location. Do not water for at least a week to give the roots time to heal and settle . Go easy on the water the first time and allow the soil to dry out almost completely before you water again. When they are established you can give them a good deep soaking when you water but they must be allowed to dry out at depth before you water again
Maybe someone who grows aloe vera may chip in with an more immediate diagnosis as apposed to my general tips about care
Please read the threads on soil and watering at the top of the forum as they contain a lot of key basic info.
Good luck and ask more questions if you need to.
let us know how you go on

ketsui73 said:@plantjunky
i have over 50 aloes but not aloe vera
The plants do not look dehydrated, so for me you are getting some basic aspects of their care wrong (insufficient light, too little heat or watering problems) Other contributing environmental factors are poor soil type or container type. You can also water using bad watering techniques (letting water get between the leaves or water or too soon after repotting before the roots have healed).

The first thing that comes up with bending aloe leaves is insufficient light (see caption below). Where is your location? A north facing window in arizona is not the same as north facing window in Iceland. I am keeping aloes in a more northerly location than most here, but i have to go for south facing windows and use a very fast draining soil mix. I also have to be very careful with watering. If you are indoors you should try to give the plant as must sun exposure as possible. North facing windows in the UK would spell disaster for me i am sure.

I can't see any rot in the pics but if any of the stems are brown or soft or if the roots are black and limp you are over watering (at least for the conditions they are in).

The other point i would make is that aloes don't like change and can sulk and look bad for quite a time until they settle in new conditions , even if it might be suitable conditions in the long term .So don't change too many things and once and don't expect them to bounce back in few days

Check for rot first. If they are not rotting, let them dry out for a day or so and plant then up in a fast draining soil mix (keep the leaves out of the soil) and put them in a bright location. Do not water for at least a week to give the roots time to heal and settle . Go easy on the water the first time and allow the soil to dry out almost completely before you water again. When they are established you can give them a good deep soaking when you water but they must be allowed to dry out at depth before you water again
Maybe someone who grows aloe vera may chip in with an more immediate diagnosis as apposed to my general tips about care
Please read the threads on soil and watering at the top of the forum as they contain a lot of key basic info.
Good luck and ask more questions if you need to.
let us know how you go on

Thank you for the advice I did make sure they are in cactus and succulent soil when I repotted them in August, and I am in southern Ontario. I was mistaken as majority of my windows are north facing, they are near a north facing window. I had them in the living room all of last winter (which has an awning) when they starting looking off, I moved them to my bedroom (no awning, also south facing) in an attempt to give them more sun. They kept burning and getting worse, after a month of attempting to move them around the room I finally relocated them back to the living room. They started looking much better so after some time I (3 months) I repotted them, as I noticed roots coming out of the bottom on the Planters . I kept them outdoors during this period as they kept shifting in the planters as soil was very dry and I obviously wanted them to adjust to situation before watering. They were underneath the awning and seemed to be thriving so until the temperature Started to drop I left them there, I only relocated them a few weeks ago. As well as I did purchase new curtains for the windows and doors in my living room so I wonder if they are maybe thinner ( they don't block the light, when previously others did) and letting more cool air in then prior. I was considering purchasing heat pads to keep under them, as well as more plant lights because I have acquired more plants since last winter. I would rather not have to dig them up at this point and just give them a little bit more time to adjust, I don't currently have a space to keep them if I do dig them up.
I also put the healthiest plant in a different location to see if perhaps it was A heating issue or sun.

Again thank you everyone for the advice, any other suggestions are appreciated.

I don't think the south window was burning them. Aloes tend to develop colors when under stress of some kind. The south window with as much sun as they can get should be the best inside light you can provide them. I've found the aloes that grow here have a strong tendency to sulk when repotted and it takes some weeks for them to adapt. Be really careful about giving them water when they are already under stress. It seems unlikely that water deprivation is the cause of what you are experiencing and may, in fact, be a contributing negative factor.

It is basically impossible to sunburn aloes indoors unless they are coming from deep shade. When in doubt, give them a couple of weeks in an intermediate location to get adjusted, but from there on out the more sun, the better indoors. A north facing exposure is not going to work.

When in doubt, since you have more than one plant, why not try putting them in different places, or giving them slightly different treatment, so that you have some idea what works best.

They seem to have bounced back just fine, I had some weird spots I've never seen on them, but all is well with my aloes now. Lots of artificial sunlight, actual sunlight and I stopped watering them for quite some time

Hi, I'm new to the group. I have an aloe that was given to me for my new found love of indoor plants. She was twisted and not sturdy when I got her and in a very small 5" plastic container. I transplanted her and she seemed to be doing well, however never really firmed up. And insisted on bending over despite my efforts. The top looks beautiful with new growth and honestly looks healthy. The stem however is narrow and there is no firmness to it. I was told when posting on a gardeners website, that this was fine, it is just a draping aloe and their stem looks just like mine in the picture. I found this site and thought I'd get more of an "expert" opinion as I love this plant and want to do what I can for it. I water, maybe every week and a half. It is not in direct sunlight and since I have had it has new growth and also pups. Thanks in advance for any help.

Welcome!

Everything about your plant screams: I am not getting enough sunlight and warmth! It is become all droopy, thin leaved, with an extended floppy stem because it is not getting enough light. It can probably deal with not being as warm as it would like all the time as long as it gets lots and lots direct sunlight.

From your screen name I suspect you are in Winnipeg so providing that sunlight right now is really hard, but unless you find a way to improve the plant's lighting conditions (a plant light can definitely help some in winter, but is by no means a permanent solution) this plant will keep doing what it has been doing.

You are correct that for the rest it looks healthy, but as said in light starved kind of way.

That brings me to the point that had me chuckling: that this was given to you for your new found love of indoor plants. This is not an indoor plant, you can get it through cold winters indoors with the right circumstances, but if this has to permanently grow indoors it will never start behaving differently and it is only one mistimed watering away from a mushy rotting death.

So as a start find the best lighting conditions in the house in terms of seeing daylight, see if there is a way of providing some kind of grow light that can help provide additional light for the plant and is not so hideous in terms of looks and or light (find a full spectrum bulb) type that you would not want to have it were the plant is and then once spring hits were you are slowly bring it out into as much direct sunlight as you can give it, but do that in stages otherwise there is a good chance this plant will get sun burn.

If you can do that you will see that the plant will change in habit through the summer, to be a more compact plant, with wider leaves and generally a more solid feel to the plant both leave and stem wise.