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

May the wind always be at your back
and your keel in the water

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. They are great plants to have for their beauty, medicinal use, and impossibility to destroy.

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Rule like a Goddess.
Command like a queen.
Work like a slave.

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.

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Rule like a Goddess.
Command like a queen.
Work like a slave.

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

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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.

Welcome to the forum, by the way!

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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

May the wind always be at your back
and your keel in the water

quote:

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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.

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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.

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 Could it be the high humidity we have here? We normally get rain every evening,could that be it?

Karen