Please post a photo of your Aloe with its soil/pot. Would also help to know where it is grown. =)

How soon after the repotting did you water? With breaking the roots if you water too soon it is much easier to cause rot. Depending on your zone, once a month in cooler months may be too much still. Your mix should have more drainage. Do you happen to have a photo?

hard to comment without a photo

Im pretty sure I waited a few weeks before watering, but it was so long ago I really dont remember. It's an indoor plant. I dont see how it's possible to put a higher percentage of perlite in that soil. This was 8 or 9 months ago.

dead leaf on the far right:

That poor plant! It gets so little light and to add insult to injury, the tag is blocking its only light source!

can you keep it closer to a window? It may need slow acclimation to more light.

the soil looks rather damp as well, I would dump it out of the pot and look at the roots.

this poor plant is suffering from too much water, not enough light.

mysocalledlife - Thanks for posting photos! To me, it looks like a combination of not enough light (primarily) and the soil being too water retentive.

To help give a comparison, I took a few photos of two of my own Aloes which are similar to yours. They are both the exact same species, grown from the same mother plant, and mostly kept indoors.

The Aloe on the left has not had enough light, resulting in skinny thin leaves. It is more susceptible to mechanical and light damage, as you see with the bent leaf in the center of the photo and brownish patches on some of the leaves.

The Aloe on the right has had quite a bit more light and grown compact with a distinctive circular pattern and thick fleshy leaves. It should have grown straight, but there was a period where it didn't get enough light and ended up a little strange!

Here is a top view of these two Aloes. Here you can really see the difference in how they have grown:

As for improving your soil mix for healthier roots, you can try reversing the ratio of your mix. 70% perlite and 30% soil. Make sure to sift out the small perlite bits/dust with a kitchen sieve (and don't breathe it in).

Roots need oxygen and a more aerated mix will provide that. It will be a little bit less water retentive, which should help as well. Mine are grown in the exact soil mix you see in the photo - grit, bark, and Turface (clay).

For the damaged/creased leaves, there is nothing you can do about them. Leaves are not as strong when they aren't super healthy and can get bent like that by accident. Even if you improve the plant health, they will stay like that (and work fine like a normal leaf).

If you get leaves that turn brown, soft, and mushy you should cut them off immediately close to the stem. Rot spreads quickly and can kill your entire plant within a very short period of time. Use a sharp knife and clean it with isopropyl alcohol between cuts. You will need some paper towels because you don't want the 'juice' to get all of the plant and soil (may contain bacteria which can cause further plant infection).

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your responses. The soil looks wet in the photo for some reason but it is actually bone dry to the touch (at least on the surface) and I just watered it a couple of days ago. So I'm not sure if the water is the issue.

When the leaves fall off they don't turn brown, soft and mushy; they turn brown, dry and papery at the part where it attaches to the stem.

Ok so I will get a grow light then. It's in the sunniest spot in our apartment but the sun is kind of blocked by the buildings on the other side of our courtyard, so the sun is not as strong as it could be. I do open all the blinds in the morning just for the plants though.

Any tips on acclimating it to the grow light so it won't get sunburned? How many hours a day should I keep it on?

So the creased leaves aren't dying? That was my concern. Some of them have been creased for months though and haven't died yet. But certain other ones have eventually died and dried up off the plant.

I don't understand how you can't give it more light? Put it in the window sill. Just for one hour for a day or two, then gradually increase the length of time and sun intensity.

That is far from the brightest spot in your home, you just can't perceive it because you don't see light until it hits something like a wall or other object. Even a foot away from the window cuts down on photons making it to your chloroplasts considerably.

Mysocalledlife - Normally I see leaves that dry up like that when the plant is not getting enough water or shedding old leaves (which can be quite normal). After watering, do the leaves perk up and become more turgid/firm the next morning? That's the best indicator of root health.

Opening the blinds is well worth the effort! Windows cut down around 30% of natural light alone and blinds even more so. If your Aloe isn't sitting right in the window already, that can help too. Light intensity decreases extremely quickly over a small distance.

If you get a grow light, I would start with a short period of time, a few hours maybe. Gradually increase the duration over several weeks with a timer. Since your plant has had lower light for so long, it takes a lot longer to adjust.

Keep good watch of your plant as you adjust the lights. If the leaves start to turn brownish decrease the amount of light otherwise it will start to burn and take even longer to become accustomed to brighter light.

The creased leaves are not dying, just a little damaged. No need to cut them off or anything like that, just try not to have them get bent any further. They can grow like that easily for months and still help provide the plant with energy and nutrient/water storage.

Sometimes if they end up getting too bent on their own, the creased portion will dry and can crack. The end of leaf then may be broken off. The rest of the leaf will remain and function normally.

Hi, could you tell me if my aloe vera plant needs more water? Ive moved it to get more light. The last four months leaves have flattened and have lost there bulk and started curling.

I water it once a week, soil is a mix of sand and catus compost .thank you.

I think it's a root and soil mix issue. Sand compacts and is not actually good for Aloe in pots.

Thanks, which would be a better soil for the aloe vera? Should I remove all of the soil and replace the soil?

There are many better soil mixes. You can try making your own gritty mix or otherwise try 60% sifted perlite and soil.

Thanks, I`ll try the perlite mix, should I just repot in into a larger pot or remove most of the soil from its roots first.

Remove ALL the old soil before that sand suffocates the roots pls.

If you trim those roots winding around the bottom a bit & you won't need a bigger pot. In Succulents bigger pots aren't often the way to go.

Thank you for all your help, I will. In a few weeks i`ll let you know how its growing .

Hello, if any of you could offer me help with my Aloe Vera plant I would really appreciate it.

I have had my Aloe for three years now, & it's been doing excellent while inside near a well lit window. In the past few months, I hadn't noticed any new growth, & it still hasn't sprouted pups, although it's fairly large. I thought this might have been because the pot was getting too small. So my boyfriend & I decided to re-pot it into a wider, shallow pot & put it outside since the weather has been warm. We used potting soil since I didn't have any more Catcus soil.. I didn't think it was too big of a deal since it has been very hot. Well it started to rain here & there since we've had some thunderstorms, so I moved it out of the rain. But now it's starting to look terrible. Yesterday I re-potted it into a new pot with a mixture of Cactus & African Violet soil. I also removed unhealthy roots & trimmed the leaves that were drooping to the point they were starting to break. I also moved it back inside. Is there anything else I can do? I'm a little confused because although it looks really transparent & droopy from what looks like too much water, there is also some dryness & browning of the leaves. Do you think it was all just a huge climate shock with all the new changes together? Is it possible to have too much water & also have sunburn. I really don't want it to die, I'd be devastated.

Thank you,

Kayla

I think you should post a photo, if possible.

Kayla, I agree with ewwmayo. We need a picture. However, with what you have described, I'll make 2 guesses.

If you plunged the plant into full sun without weaning into more light over time, it very well may have burnt.

The soil mix should have a lot of grit it in - no matter what particular kind you choose. Regular bagged mixes will hold too much water, even most of the so called cactus and succulent mixes. It needs to be mixed at least 50/50 with perlite, pumice or chicken grit. That will give good drainage and help prevent those with a heavy hand from overwatering. It should look like this - LOTS of perlite.

So let us see your plant and we can better help you. =)

Can someone please help me with mine . It’s bending in certain spots and a bit soft

Hi, I would say it's to do with the potting medium it is in and may not be receiving enough water. And as it looks like the leaves are flat is may need a bit more light. After i changed the potting medium to the mix I was told to use. the plant has gone from strength to strength. This is the plant I asked about two years ago. The plastic band is what iI put round the leaves in the winter months to stop the leaves opening out to far. as I live in ne England. Nick

Wow it is beautiful. So im new to all this. What exactly do I do? Is my plant over watered ? I bought it as is about 5 days ago at homedepot , also im in Ohio and past few days little to no sun. Thanks for your help !

I would take it out of the pot and have a look at the potting medium.. It should be loose not compacted. If its compacted it will stop the roots developing. Which will stop the plant taking in water. I would personally remove all the potting medium it came with from the roots carefully trying not to damage the roots too much. And repot it in a mix of compost 20%, 60% perlight, and grit 20%. The perlite and compost should be available in garden centres. The grit I use is fine gravel for aquariums I get from pet shops. With this mix any water not soked up by the perlite should run through the compost out through the drainage holes in the plant pot. As for watering I water in the summer 1-2 a month depending how quickly the soil dries out. In winter I usually stop watering it in Oct. And start again in march. The aloe should be ok through winter if its kept dry.

Hi there!! any chance anyone can tell me what I have done wrong with my poor aloe! I had it for about 6 years when someone told me I should actually separate it into two separate pots. One of them started doing really poorly and I found that it’s roots were barely existent. someone I consulted told me to plant the two of them back together in a pot where the roots could get stronger again. They are together in one pot again and one of them is doing a bit better but both are a bit droopy with creases. any idea what I am doing wrong? Thanks!

Hello! Can someone please help me figure out how to make my plant healthy again? The weather has been pretty hot lately and my balcony gets the afternoon sun. I've moved it a few times to give it some shade from the afternoon heat and watered it more frequently so it doesn't dry out. Now I couldn't figure out if it's looking like this because of too much or too little water. Thanks!

Help. I've seen a few leaves of my plant start to droop. I've have the plant for 5 months. Recently moved if from the finished basement with lower lignt to a more warm and sunny room. I water it once a month with added liquid fertilizer. Not sure if the droop is light or cold related. Please advise.

GHHHJ

Help. I've seen a few leaves of my plant start to droop. I've had the plant for 5 months now. It was in the finished basement with lower light until recently. It is now a warmer room with more light. I water it 1x a month with liquid fertilizer. Not sure if this is due to lack of light or temperature change. Please advise.

Here is the plant.

More pics.

What is meaning of 'GHHHJ' pls?

What zone/general area are you in? Maybe it isn't good idea to fertilize plant if in low light...

Mine went from happy to this after I moved it from the spot it apparently liked, any suggestions on how to perk back up?

Bottom still wanting to grow down and bend on the rim of pot causing leaf to cress

If the light is not sufficient to keep the leaves pointing upright, that is unavoidlable. I put my bigger Aloes in hanging pots because of this. Now the lower leaves have space to point down.