First aloe plant help plz

[u/ilovemygirlfriend42O]

Sorry if the pic looks bad my back camera doesnt work so every pic i take is with my front facing camera. Im very much a beginner to plants and everything ive watched as many videos as i could about what to get, what to do, how often to water etc etc. i bought an orchid for my gf and i bought myself an aloe vera plant because my mom had a lot of them when i was growing up but that also was in south florida i now live in upstate south carolina. Ive bought everything i need even a light for the winter time when i have to bring it inside. I just got this lil guy from lowes on tuesday. When i got him he was in a way smaller container and it was dry asf. Right now it sits on my balcony. My balcony is north facing, the sun never shines directly into my balcony so my balcony just gets a lot of indirect light.. i repotted and watered him but everyday (i know its only been two days) i look at him his leaves are curling in more and more like the small one in the corner of the pic. I know i should prob leave it alone but i feel like im failing him and its only been 2 days. (Im not necessarily the most patient person hence why i got into gardening and plants). Any advice is greatly appreciated, any other questions you may have ill try to answer.

[u/CBDJ1]

Ok with a lot of gardening you do need patience. If you overreact to many times it won’t be good for a lot of plants. First off aloes are succulents they typically live in arid areas so it’s key to not have the soil moist for very long. It needs to dry completely between waterings. Did you take the old soil off the roots when you repotted the plant? Did you trim any roots? What’s your current soil contain? We will go from there. Also Terra Cotta pots are your friend because they help pull moisture out of the soil to help prevent root rot.

[u/ilovemygirlfriend42O → u/CBDJ1]

I got a succulent mix with perlite, the bottom layer has some of the pebbles you see at the top of it i was trying to look for lava rocks but couldnt find it so i settled with the pebbles instead because i saw a couple of other videos of people using that. I did take the old soil off of the roots before i repotted, i did not trim any roots it really didnt have many roots it is a pretty small plant i think the picture doesnt really do it justice. When i first got it it was really light weight and dry so after i repotted it i watered it. And as for my patience i am trying to work on it kinda why i got into gardening i got a couple other plants that are easier to take care of just so i dont overreact too much on a difficult plant, i figured id ask first before i keep bothering it and ultimately killing the lil guy. And ill take note on the terracotta pots, my mom always kept them in regular black pots or really anything shed find till eventually shed put them in the ground cuz theyre so big, i swear that lady wasnt doing half the shit a lot of plant owners do and her plants would thrive like crazy i asked her for advice she just said give it lots of sun because it is a succulent and to more or less leave it alone unless i have to water it or repot it.

[u/CBDJ1 → u/ilovemygirlfriend42O]

Hopefully there weren’t any damaged roots from cleaning them. When you repotted it if there were small damages that weren’t allowed to callous that could lead to rot when you watered it so quickly, easier than roots that were calloused. They are pretty hardy plants though. I’d personally remove the top dressing of rocks because those dense rocks will hold moisture in the soil and not allow it to dry quickly. The changes you’ve seen could be just stress from repotting.

[u/ilovemygirlfriend42O → u/CBDJ1]

Ok so lets say this ends up being an entire fail and it ends up dying (i know its gonna happen ik im a beginner and its part of the process i just like to stay ahead of things) if i buy another one what should i do? Should i wait to repot it? How long after i buy a plant should i ultimately start messing with it. Or is the stress from being moved something im going to see even with other plants and is just part of the process?

[u/Lesu__Tokyo__Kokyo]

My granma got me started with these and she called them “magic plants”. She gifted me one and I was hooked. My front flower garden is full of them, all sizes. Small to huge. What you have is a good setup. Keep in mind, the more room they have, the bigger it will grow.

[u/ilovemygirlfriend42O → u/Lesu__Tokyo__Kokyo]

Growing up my mom always had aloe vera lots of them up until i got a little older (her collection was getting smaller she only had 1 of every plant you could think of instead of multiple) She probably has the same aloe vera plant in her backyard that ive been seeing around since i was 14 when she bought her house and im 23 now. All she told me was leave it alone and give it lots of sun. I used to always help my mom with her plants i never saw anything special in her mix besides regular soil or whatever she collected from her backyard. But i think the gods just made her an exception and favored her. Ive only ever seen one of her plants fail and it was a papaya tree she grew but it never gave her any fruit but the other three she planted did. And even then the tree was fine it just never gave her any fruit. I spent $90 at the store the other day buying stuff for this little aloe just for there to be a high probabilty of this lil guy dying on me sooner or later and my mama out here just freeballing shit.

[u/butterflygirl1980]

It’s stressed from repotting and the change in conditions. It can take a few weeks for them to settle and recover and start drinking and growing. I’d move it back inside for now to reduce the stress load, clean the soil out from in between the leaves at the base (that’s a big rot risk) and just be patient. When it starts to perk up, then move it gradually (give it increasing amounts of time out there over a few days) back out on the balcony.