Collapsing Aloe - Can it be saved?

[admsteiner]

Hey guys,

Hope this is ok for the off-topic board....

Had a large aloe with many babies that I bought at a farmer's market last year (in an 8" pot). Week and a half ago I repotted it, taking out the smaller ones (got about 16 plants from it).

The mother plant, when growing, had started leaning to the side, all new leaves pointing in the same direction. Now the entire plant is beginning to fall to the opposite side of the new leaves.

What should I do? Should I repot it again and bury the plant up to the new leaves (cutting off some of the lower ones)? Below are links to two pictures of the plant so you can see what I'm talking about.

I've also staked up the plant to keep it straight (after the pictures).

Thanks in advance!
--Adam

[snow]

aloes need very bright light; and moderate to dry conditions.now don,t go and bring it in bright light suddenly but gradually over a period of a few weeks. good growing.

[admsteiner]

thanks snow.

The aloe gets sun in the mornings, along with light from my room during the day. been in the same place for the last 7-8 months or so just hoping i didnt kill it by replanting it (though it was about to tip the old pot anyway)

[Dorothy]

Watch your watering also. I have one where the medium stayed very moist and it looked terrible (floppy and weak) .. It has revived as I now allow it to dry out before watering ...

[tuvoc]

You have to turn these guys regularly, to keep them growing fairly straight. I had one that got so huge, it would not stand straight in a 12 inch pot no matter what I did. It finally became a lot of burn balm, and I potted one of its offspring to keep the 'family' going.

Kim

[admsteiner]

i potted my aloe in a half potting mix half cactus mix. i guess my real question is if I strip off the bottom leaves and bury them, will that be bad for the plant (assuming proper watering).

cool thing about - in addition to the drain holes on bottom there are 5 slits on the bottom of the pot. a couple of shoots starting growing out of those. when i repotted it i put babies in there so that I'll have a big aloe on top and 5 small ones growing along the sides. hoping to turn it into an aloe 'bush'

[Greenman]

Be careful with watering, these guys can rot in the center really quickly (Voice of experience)

[kavanaru]

That Aloe is not getting enough light (probably also too much water). As the others have said, tehy need a lot of light... and a lot means A LOT! They use to grow in desert and semi-desert regions (e.g. caribbean islands, or in the desertic region on the north of Venezuela)

you can determine the lack of light on your plant because of the very very light colour and the "asparragus"-like growth...

[snow]

i grew up on the island of curacaou; and they grew like weeds in our garden.one of my jobs was to cut them down 2 or 3 times a year with a mancheta.
my legs would all be slimy; but i had beautifull skin though!
so that.s my little story