If light is very weak, and no watering, what it does is just conserve its limited resources as it uses up whatever moisture is stored in its succulent leaves...so existing leaves will stretch out trying to find more light..so it will appear lanky and weak. Or it may die off lower older leaves, and redirects its energies to
keep the younger leaves.

Then it may just go somewhat dormant till all of its needed cultural needs are met..like stronger light levels and duration, warmer temps, then the increased watering as needed. So while it becomes more awake, new roots maybe forming as well below soil level.

It perks up by then pushing out new leaf growth at the center, or it may trigger development of new pups at the base. So that is a visual cue it is back to active growing.

As Tarev says, the plant uses stored reserves - water and chlorophyll collected in the fleshy leaves and stems. In the meantime, it works on building a new means of collecting the resources available from the soil by way of growing a root system for the uptake of nutrients and water available in the soil. When the light and temperature are right, it will continue to develop the root system and at the same time beging to push new growth above the soil to utilize the light - and it will appreciate a good bit of light when it's actively growing. It can stay dormant a long time and still grow. But it cannot handle and excessive amount of water. Even with a root system, it's designed to store excess water and when there is too much, the hangover from imbibing too much can be deadly.

My original post was 2 weeks ago. I have not watered this succulent since then. Now he is looking desperate for water.

As I have already said earlier, it may take a month before your plant can recover. As it stands, the crown area (center part) of the other Aloe is showing a dark mushy view..so all the more got to keep that plant dry. The other one looks it is gradually catching up.

I wish you can use some extra grow lights to augment lighting, maybe that can help too. What it needs now is more light and warmth, no watering. And much, much more patience at this time.

tarev said: As I have already said earlier, it may take a month before your plant can recover. As it stands, the crown area (center part) of the other Aloe is showing a dark mushy view..so all the more got to keep that plant dry. The other one looks it is gradually catching up.

I wish you can use some extra grow lights to augment lighting, maybe that can help too. What it needs now is more light and warmth, no watering. And much, much more patience at this time.

I will continue to wait. Thanks so much.

It doesn't look too dry for the current circumstances. My spares look infinitely worse and absolutely have been deprived of water much longer than yours. When I tossed them in commercial plastic containers 5-6 years ago (or longer), the only soil they had was what was clinging to their roots. I have added none since then. I stick the containers out of the way and rarely give them water. Their only purpose is to provide plants so I can replant the ceramic container seen in my previous photos.

So I could illustrate this post, I went to the garage where those spares are stored for the winter and took a photo. They have had NO water since I brought them into the garage in November for the winter. They have a lot of temporaray company for a day or two since it's trying to reach 20F outside today. These will probably go outside when I replant the ceramic container. They will be shoved someplace out of the way, usually under the eave of the roof, and mostly out of sight and mind. Water is a rare treat for these particlular plants. Too much water might kill your plants. Be patient and you'll likely be rewarded.

What about my plant Bernard?

Same story, he stopped thriving after I repotted him.

I haven't given him much water lately. Does he need water or is something else going on?

To me it looks like it needs more light. That's a Sedum Adolphii. In winter, they don't grow much, which could be something to consider on why it's not growing.

Aeonium2003 said: To me it looks like it needs more light. That's a Sedum Adolphii. In winter, they don't grow much, which could be something to consider on why it's not growing.

Everyone says that, but they are in a south facing window, they get a lot of light.

Again, this is only with the plants I have repotted, anything else is healthy.

Here he is over the weekend.
About a month has passed since he received any water.
You can also see how much sunlight he gets in this image.

What am I looking for to know he needs water ? What is going to stimulate his growth?

? A little confused here? Crickets?

The sound of silence. You know. 4 days without a reply.

I haven't followed this thread but I don't think I have ever left any succulent for a month without water, especially not in a shallow pot. Maybe somebody who participated in the thread earlier could confirm when is the right time to water.

OK, I finally had a chance to read this from the beginning, and would like to offer a few comments.

First, now is the time to water. Water thoroughly, to completion, and from there on out the clock is ticking and you will have wait however long it takes for the soil to go dry at depth. If these aloes do not have any roots to speak of, they will not be able to consume any water from the soil, and the only way the water will leave is through evaporation. Which is fine because the container is much wider than deep, and those are the right proportions for the situation at hand.

What triggers plants or pieces of plants to make roots is a bit of a mysterious thing. It requires permissive conditions (light, water, temperature) but there is a sort of trigger that fires at different times for different plants. It might take one plant 2 or 3 weeks to begin rehydrating itself, and another plant requires months before it gets to that point. You have to observe and respond, but a good window for the plant in question would be 1-2 months before a plant without good roots to begin to have working roots again.

In general, as a point of advice, these changes take a long time. A new aloe cutting, or an aloe without roots, will look progressively worse with each passing day until (a) it has roots to do the magic and (b) it is getting the water it needs with the aeration it also needs. You will encourage the roots by watering periodically, the moisture in the soil being a bit of a draw. But you need to also allow plenty of time in between watering so there are no wet feet.

As a general rule a sad looking aloe might take 3-4 months to definitively recover, if I saw something and decided to move it to intensive care. These things take a while. But a dehydrated (deflated) succulent will continue to look ever more so until it is in a position to rehydrate. That is expected. What you can do along the way is encourage the roots without stifling them. Expect this to take months before you have a conclusive happy ending to the story.

So I water thoroughtly each time it is bone dry? Every several weeks?

Baja_Costero said: OK, I finally had a chance to read this from the beginning, and would like to offer a few comments.

First, now is the time to water. Water thoroughly, to completion, and from there on out the clock is ticking and you will have wait however long it takes for the soil to go dry at depth. If these aloes do not have any roots to speak of, they will not be able to consume any water from the soil, and the only way the water will leave is through evaporation. Which is fine because the container is much wider than deep, and those are the right proportions for the situation at hand.

What triggers plants or pieces of plants to make roots is a bit of a mysterious thing. It requires permissive conditions (light, water, temperature) but there is a sort of trigger that fires at different times for different plants. It might take one plant 2 or 3 weeks to begin rehydrating itself, and another plant requires months before it gets to that point. You have to observe and respond, but a good window for the plant in question would be 1-2 months before a plant without good roots to begin to have working roots again.

In general, as a point of advice, these changes take a long time. A new aloe cutting, or an aloe without roots, will look progressively worse with each passing day until (a) it has roots to do the magic and (b) it is getting the water it needs with the aeration it also needs. You will encourage the roots by watering periodically, the moisture in the soil being a bit of a draw. But you need to also allow plenty of time in between watering so there are no wet feet.

As a general rule a sad looking aloe might take 3-4 months to definitively recover, if I saw something and decided to move it to intensive care. These things take a while. But a dehydrated (deflated) succulent will continue to look ever more so until it is in a position to rehydrate. That is expected. What you can do along the way is encourage the roots without stifling them. Expect this to take months before you have a conclusive happy ending to the story.

Yes, but the interval is something you have to figure out for yourself. I suspect more like every week or two max.

Agreed on the watering. Moisture is needed to trigger root growth.

Aeonium2003 said: Agreed on the watering. Moisture is needed to trigger root growth.

I watered him every two weeks for a year and nothing happened...Which is why I am here asking questions.

Well, it's either the plant or it's something about care. Those are the two main reasons why you might be having bad results. Try replacing the plant with something that is doing well? Investigate more about light, water, soil? I usually have a pretty low tolerance for plants that stop responding to my efforts to help. I usually just toss them and try again because I'd rather not get involved in a downward spiral.

Baja_Costero said: I usually have a pretty low tolerance for plants that stop responding to my efforts to help. I usually just toss them and try again because I'd rather not get involved in a downward spiral.

You have to get used to throwing them away. Especially when you rescue roadside succulents like me.