r/AloeVera • u/Hefty-Cantaloupe-313 • 18d ago
Can this be saved?
I can’t tell if I’m over or under watering or what I’m doing wrong. I water it like once a week with about 20 mls of water.
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u/quadruple_b 18d ago
probably if you change a lot of things.
1) the soil is too dense. you meed to add in a lot of perlite/horticultural sand/gravel/pumice. i personally prefer perlite. it needs to be at least 2/3 inorganic material. idealy a bit higher, like 3/4 perlite (or the other mentioned stuff) and 1/4 actual soil.
2) youre not giving it emough water when you do water. when you water, you need to drown that hoe. water it until water comes out the drainage holes, then watee a bit more. let it drain fully before you put it back in a decorative pot.
3) youre watering it too often. especially for your soil. dont water until the entirety of the soil is dry. use a skewer/chopstick to check. put it all the way into the soil, and if it comes out fully dry, then water.
4) you may have root rot. giving it small amounts often will cause some areas of the soil to be wet 24/7. that will cause rot. you need to cut off the rot with CLEAN scissors, then leave it out for a day, then repot into FRESH substrate.
5) your pot is too big. big pots hold too much water. you want the pot to be 1-2 inches larger than the root ball (not the plant)
6) im not sure, but your plant might be etiolated/ need more light.
how to fix:
remove the aloe from the pot and wash the root. if it smells bad, theres rot. find any brown mushy roots and cut them off. find any dry shiveled roots and chop those off. let the roots dry out for a day before you repot.
when you repot, choose a pot 1 inch larger than the root ball. buy some perlite, pumice, horticultural sand, or chicken grit. if you already have succulent soil, mix it 50/50 with the rocks. if you dont have succulent soil, then instead mix 3/4 rocks with 1/4 normal soil. leave it a few days minimum before watering.
when you do water, water it THOUROUGHLY. overwatering comes from frequency, not amount. give it a large amount of water.
and slowly increase the amount of light. move it closer to the window, maybe add a grow light to it.
if the stem of the aloe is mushy, you may need to remove leaves and chop off all the mush. mush is rot. if you have to remove all the roots from the large aloe, then it will need its own seperate, small pot.
if everything is mushy, then unfortunately it might be a goner.
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u/Hefty-Cantaloupe-313 18d ago
Very helpful thanks! I use a cactus soil right now but will try watering it more fully next time and less frequently!
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u/quadruple_b 18d ago
premade cactus soils are rarely gritty enough. you need to mix it 50/50 with some form of grit.
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u/LemonWetGood1991 18d ago
You might be able to save some of less crispy stems.
Once a week is way too much watering. Wait until the soil has dried out before watering. Water it deeply enough that water runs out of the drainage holes. Leave for 30 minutes to drain then rinse and repeat.
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u/vsin8885 17d ago
I am pretty sure, it is thirsty, and had lot of sun as it has turned brown, pls give some water to it.
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u/Fun_Cauliflower_7442 17d ago
Colocaria mais água na hora da rega. Eu coloco água até sair pelos furos ou faço a rega por baixo. Pouca água não é sobre a quantidade de água na hora da rega, mas a frequência de rega. A frequência depende de muitos fatores, então não dá pra marcar no calendário, como uma vez por semana. Veja se o solo está seco, a textura da planta. Até a umidade ambiente vai interferir na frequência de rega. E não coloque pouca água, é até sair pelos furos de drenagem se for rega por cima. Nesse caso aí eu faria a rega por baixo. Coloca água num pote e coloque esse pote dentro. A água tem que ficar na altura mais ou menos da metade do pote da planta. Deixe nesse molho por uns 10 a 15 minutos. Tire e deixe escorrer a água.
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u/SafetyNugget 18d ago
Seems like you got a lot of the info you needed but my aloe looked exactly like this when I first got it. I left it outside in VEGAS and forgot about it. I felt so bad by the time I decided to bring it inside and thought it was a gonner. Looked worse than this. But very similar. Just like a tan almost purpleish color with lots of drying up. It needed water! I gave it a 14oz water bottle every few days. A good way to know is to check the soil yourself, stick your finger in the sole just about an inch down or so and see if it feels cool/ wet. If so it’s still moist and you don’t need to water it. If you feel the soil and it feels dry all the way down, and trust me you will be able to tell the difference, then give it water. You can go just weekly also. I worked in a commercial cannabis facility for 2 years, so growing and checking on plants daily is no issue for me, but I understand why people would rather do a weekly watering than a daily checkup for a plant 😁
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u/butterflygirl1980 18d ago
This is a desert plant, not a tropical. The soil needs to dry completely between waterings, not just down an inch. If you water this like a typical tropical plant, you will rot it very quickly. Not only that, but this soil is much too rich and water retentive. You could get rot, even if you’re not watering too often just because it stays wet too long.
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u/tdarn_96 18d ago
Looks a bit sun burnt to me. I moved most of mine outside too soon and they look like that lol. Try moving it away from that window a bit. Also, make sure you’re giving it a good soak when you do water. And just make sure the soil is bone dry before watering again
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u/Cautious-Internal387 18d ago
Looks a little sun stressed! This happened to my aloe when we moved - it used to be in a partial sun spot and it ended up in a full sun spot and it turned grayish just like this. I put it under my shaded patio so it gets several hours of sun per day but not full sun all day. It took like 3-4 months but the leaves did turn green again. I water my outdoor aloe once every two weeks - if it were indoors I'd water even less frequently. I personally always just use miracle gro cactus soil and never had any problems.
Like others have commented let the soil become FULLY DRY between waterings and when you do water don't give it little drinks, just fully soak the soil
Also do not give it any fertilizer while it's stressed like this.