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Help!! My aloe vera is dying!!

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2005
by HarveyAloeVera on March 26, 2005 10:19 PM
I have a horrible track record with house plants. However, I have been able to keep my aloe vera for over a year, with him reaching huge size. Two weeks ago I took him outside to sit in the sun for a while and forgot to take him inside! It ended up raining that night (of course). Now he's turning yellow brown all over. The lower limbs are shriveling and brown with the top limbs slowly catching up. I repotted him in dry potting soil (the old soil was muddy wet) and have been waiting for a couple of days now. Is there anything else I can do? Should I cut off the brown or just see what happens? Thanks! [Eek!]

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You have been touched by Harvey AloeVera, baby.
by Will Creed on March 27, 2005 03:27 AM
Harvey,

The sun may have done more damage than the rain. It is never a good idea to move any plant directly from the reduced light of indoors to the direct sun outdoors. Did you know that outdoor light is anywhere from 10 to 100 times more intense than indoor light? So far, no one has invented sun block for plants.

You over-reacted to the drenching your Aloe got. Soil can only hold so much water. So the drenching rain added no more water to your Aloe's soil than a normal thorough watering would add. If it rained for a week and the soil never had a chance to dry out, then that would be a problem. The repotting with fresh soil was unnecessary and may have added to the stress.

Oftentimes, doing less is better for your plants. Keep your Aloe inside in a sunny window. Be sure to let that new soil dry out in between thorough waterings. Any leaves that have become discolored are unlikely to recover. Be patient.

Good luck.
by HarveyAloeVera on March 27, 2005 07:08 PM
Thanks for the fast reply. I'll see how it goes.

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You have been touched by Harvey AloeVera, baby.

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