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Aloe Vera Care???

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by ta on July 01, 2004 09:21 PM
I have several aloe vera plants that I like to often use. I was told to use the outer leaves first. This has left me a very strange looking plant. There is about a good inch of stock at the bottom where the leaves have been removed. It is still getting new leaves in the middle and is a nice firm green. Question?? Can I put soil or something around the bottom to bring the level up or will this bury the roots to deep and kill my plant???
by Shani on July 02, 2004 06:17 PM
Thats a good question, My aloe's are starting to look bare at the bottom dur to the removal of leave (very accident prone recently) As long as people are answering questions about Aloe's Mine go through phases where the leaves get very soft and droppy for a month or so then harden up again, I don't change anything they just change on their own.
Any ideas?

Shani

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Shani
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May the wind always be at your back
and your keel in the water
by hisgal2 on July 06, 2004 06:19 PM
I wish I could help you. I don't know too much about aloe plants. My Nanny was really good at keeping them She had one that she started to grow when I was born and the thing is STILL going!! She was never picky about picking the ones that are around the edges. She would just pick a nice stem and break it off. But I do remember them getting soft and kind of yellowy every once in a while. I think that is normal for them because she never changed how she took care of them. Good luck with your plants.

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by plantlady19 on July 06, 2004 06:28 PM
I've had an aloe plant, the same aloe plant, literally my entire life. I too have never been picky about which leafs I use. I try to alternate where they come from though. Maybe this is what keeps my plant an even shape. However, I can't remember a time when the plant yellowed and drooped for no reason. That only happens to mine if I forget to water. But the one thing to really know about aloes is that they are a very hardy plant. I think you'd have to uproot the thing and set it on fire to kill it. [Mad] They are great plants to have for their beauty, medicinal use, and impossibility to destroy. [Wink]

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Rule like a Goddess.
Command like a queen.
Work like a slave.
by ta on July 06, 2004 10:56 PM
Thanks for the replys. Maybe I will just add some dirt to the base of one of the plants and see what happens. My Aloes only turn yellow when I forget to water them. There was also the time when I left them to close to the window in winter and they got a touch of frost. They went brown and soft. They came back but I lost a couple of leaves. How long does it take for these plants to make babies that you can remove to start a new plant??? Mine never has...
by plantlady19 on July 07, 2004 06:15 PM
To propagate your aloe, instead of just pinching off a leaf, try taking a few that are branching from each other off the main stalk. This works for me. Just put the little guy in some good potting soil, and with a little TLC it should root in no time. [thumb]

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Rule like a Goddess.
Command like a queen.
Work like a slave.
by Shani on July 07, 2004 09:32 PM
Does it need to be a full leaf of will the end few inches do? I've tried rooting the Aloe in water before, and it went moldy, So just normal potting soil will do, I will have to give that a try tonight

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Shani
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May the wind always be at your back
and your keel in the water
by hisgal2 on July 07, 2004 10:16 PM
I was really thinking about this lastnight...

I think the plant used to get yellow because she had it on a ledge that covered the top of the radiator..so I think it wasn't really happy in the winter with all the heat it was getting?? Just a thought [dunno]

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by Mayflowers1 on July 08, 2004 01:05 PM
I have had an aloe plant for about two years and it has always been pretty healthy. Recently it started leaning, like it wasn't well rooted, and when I took a good look at it again tonight I discovered that the root had basicly fallen off. It's very slimy on the bottom and smells terrible. The rest of the plant still looks healthy and firm. Any idea about what's up with it??
by hisgal2 on July 08, 2004 03:24 PM
Hmmm...I dunno. Too much water maybe?? Hopefully it will survive. Maybe it will grow new roots?? Someone else will come along and help you more than I can. [Smile] [Embarrassed]

Welcome to the forum, by the way! [wayey]

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by butterflybaby on July 09, 2004 12:20 AM
Aloes are fabulous! Yes, you can add soil to cover the bare stalks after you use the leaves. They don't mind being buried one bit. If they get too long and leggy, just break off the tops down to where the healthy leaves are growing. Stuff those in a pot of soil and they'll root in a week or two. Aloes like to be cozy, so don't worry about putting a bunch together in a small pot. They'll likely shoot off babies when they're a bit scrunched. By the way, keep the bare stalks that you broke the tops off of in the same pot they were growing in. They'll grow babies again in a few weeks.

Yellow, squishy leaves actually mean they're getting too much water and/or too frequent waterings. They like to be totally dry before you water again, so to mine that means at least a week between waterings. The leaves get skinny when they're getting too little water. Other discoloration has to do with being exposed to heat (as in a radiator or hot window). They like bright but indirect light. North windows are best in my experience. If the leaves are getting pale, but are still firm, they need more light. If they're getting too dark, such as reddish, they're getting sunburned.
by Shani on July 10, 2004 07:05 PM
Thanks for the help that answers my questions about my aloes, well except one, if they are given too much space will the not reproduce, I've had mine for a year and a half now and have never had babies

Shani

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Shani
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May the wind always be at your back
and your keel in the water
by ta on July 11, 2004 07:29 PM
Your right about the indirect light. I put mine out in the greenhouse in spring thinking that they would just love the heat and sun. Not so...they started turning yellowish brown. Bad move. I took it back into the house and put it back where it was and within a week it was green again. Live and learn I guess.
by Runaway Jim on July 28, 2004 11:47 PM
quote:
If they get too long and leggy, just break off the tops down to where the healthy leaves are growing. Stuff those in a pot of soil and they'll root in a week or two. Aloes like to be cozy, so don't worry about putting a bunch together in a small pot. They'll likely shoot off babies when they're a bit scrunched. By the way, keep the bare stalks that you broke the tops off of in the same pot they were growing in. They'll grow babies again in a few weeks.

I too have an aloe plant that has gotten huge - a couple feet tall and a couple of feet around when it all splays out. It has been hanging over to the side for quite some time now because it just keeps growing taller and bigger and the "stalk" cannot support all of that weight. I have repotted it a couple of times so it now has more than enough room to grow, but it keeps leaning more and more.

The other day I noticed it was leaning over particlarly steep. I checked it out and found out that it had, like another person mentioned, basically uprooted itself - the upper portion of th plant (the leaves, etc... - everything above the dirt) was so heavy that it was leaning over the edge of the pot and basically about to pull the roots right out of the dirt and the pot! I am worried that will actually happen some day! I staked it with some string and a stake to keep it upright a little better, but I know that won't last.

So my question is this - how can I keep it going?!? I'm confused about what is described in the quote above about "breaking off the top". So if my aloe is growing and just keeps putting out new leaves in the middle, I can just break off that area of new growth (and some leaves below/outside of those) and stick that into some dirt and it'll grow?!? I'm really scared to do that - I've had this thing for years, but I'm afraid I could lose it! If that is how this is supposed to work, I'll give it a shot. Thanks in advance for any replies.
by Sami on July 29, 2004 11:03 PM
I thought I would do really well with aloe, because, like everyone says on here, everyone tells me they are near impossible to kill. Well, a few years ago, I started out with a pretty good sized aloe. It had several babies, so I took those & repotted them. I ended up with lots of aloes, that I have eventually killed. All but one little tiny one. I was reading on here recently about them not liking direct sunlight (which I thought they loved). Mine was almost white, at this point, but still plump. So, I brought it in the house. Within less than 12 hours it was completely green again. That was a week or 2 ago & now it is growing a new leaf & I haven't even watered it. I'm learning that most of my plants don't want much care. But, the ones that do are suffering. I'm just a bad plant mommy [Frown] . Anyway, I'm hoping that if I leave my aloe in the house, let it get really big, maybe I can one day put it in my rock garden, in direct sun, since I have very few trees on my 2 acres.

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Talentless but connected.
by gardenmom32210 on July 31, 2004 05:25 PM
All of my aloes are outside,in the ground,in full sun(10-12 hours a day). They have been there for 18 months. I transplanted 2 the other day and they both had babies(1 had 4,they other had 5).I brought one of the babies in the house and am anxious to see how it does.
I don't understand why ya'll are having problems with them being outside [dunno] Could it be the high humidity we have here? We normally get rain every evening,could that be it?

Karen [grin]

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