I seem to be killing my aloe help
Michelle
seems dry at the top of the soil? What am I doing wrong?
Edward Hennessey
Aloes shouldn't be too difficult to grow. Please describe your growing
conditions so commentary may
be aptly directed at your situation. Take these factors into composition of
your narrative along with any
others that you might think significant:
1.Location of the plant.
3.Plant description,including species(if known), appearance, size, age and
etcetera.
3.Kind and amount of light recieved and hours per day of said light. Right
now, I will remark that
some of the smaller Aloinae aren't really respondent to direct sunlight. If
you have any necrotic black spots
showing on the flesh and reddening or crisping along the margins of the
leaves, that is one sign of too much sun.
4. Nature of your soil mix, size and type of pot and approximate days
between watering with an indication of
what type and amount of fertilizer you use on a described schedule.
5.When was your plant last repotted with fresh soil? Did you see any
evidence of cottony,white tufting in the roots
or any other sign of fungal or insect presence?
Regards,
Edward Hennessey
"Michelle" <belld...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:a73p00pitir5ug3o7...@4ax.com...
Michelle
most people would throw away a plant that came from my mother as a
lost cause> i however am the champion of lost causes as i have been
told any way well she left this one to get snowed on and half its
leaves or what ever fell or more acuratly melted off> i removed
all damaged parts and it was doing well i had it in a window with
after noon sun it is in a ten inch pot adn is about eight inches tall
and has one leaf frawn is about ten inches long the rest are cut off
or just new growth it was growing more plants in the pot but i
transplanted those today because they seemed healthy and i wanted
somthing to survive> some of the leaves are crisping a bit but i do
not see any red or necropsy at all just some parts which are not firm
as they should be i did not know there were very many types of aloe
it is just a green plain all the same color long fat leaves with spiny
edges very pretty when it is doing well i was happy to think i saved
it now i am just as bad as my mom well no one is that bad >
well thank you so much for your advice so far i removed it from such a
sunny local to my kitchen which has no windows cxcept for the ajoining
dining room it will get indirect sun light
thanks
michelle
"love is the water in the garden of life"
Edward Hennessey
Succulents are survivors, so I think this is not yet a lost cause.
First, let's start all over. Drench the with water and a bit of dish soap.
Let the plant sit a bit. Loosen the soil from the pot with a number of sharp
slaps on the pot. Hold the plant upside down and give a few more slaps on
the pot.
The plant and soil should come out. If the soil adheres to the pot and the
plant won't release,
take a butter knife and gently follow the inner contour of the plant/pot
interface. Hopefully,
you won't have to use the knife as some root damage may occur. Let's reason
that you won't
have to use the utensil--if you do, look for the root damage described
below.
Examine the soil on the plant. Look for the aforementioned white cottony
tufting. If you see that
you have mealy bugs. If you have mealy bugs, get some Diazanon and follow
the mixing directions,
again adding a bit of dish detergent to get some penetration of mealy bugs'
protective coating. Soak the
plant and soil in the mix for 5 minutes. Rinse off the plant and clean the
roots gently with running water until
you have dismissed the old soil. Set your plant aside in a cool, low light
place for a day. Go get Supersoil
at the big box store. If you can find perlite, pumice or vermiculite, get a
bag and mix it 50-50 with the Supersoil.
Look in the building supply area or other convenient place for pea gravel.
Repot your plant in the mix. Cover
the top layer of soil with about 3/4" of the pea gravel. Let the plant sit
unwatered for a week and then resume watering.
If you discovered any necrosis or soft, orange infection on the plant roots,
you will remove that gently and use Rootone as below before the repotting.
As well, any obviously dead roots that are limp and have no substance should
be pulled off. Plastic or fully-glazed ceramic pots are what you want to
choose. The terra
cota pots are porous and love to load minerals which hinders growth. You
didn't say how big your plant is but I am
guessing an 8" tall pot should be of ample dimension. However, if you find
the root ball has completely filled the old
pot, that instructs you toget a new and bigger one.
If the areas where you cut off the plantlets are soft or showing that orange
bacterial infection, buy some Rootone
at your garden center. Don't buy the small packets--they are very
uneconomical. Buy the red plastic jar for an eternal supply. Moisten some
of the rootone and daub it on the cut areas. Should the roots or plant have
shown problems requiring cutting and Rootone, you will let the specimen sit
for about a week before repotting.
Since you didn't tell me how often you watered and from your description of
the plant's condition, I am going to
guess you may not have been watering enough or there is some infectious
process running. Basically, during the Autumn to Spring growing season for
such plants, I water fully with a half measure of Miracle Grow (or Gro)
every 7 days, making sure the water runs freely from the drainage hole on
the pot. That shows the soil is at saturation capacity and discharges some
of the accreted minerals that may have precipated. Out of the growing
season, I water every 10 days in a clement greenhouse environment,
eliminating the fertilizer or cutting it back quite a bit, depending on my
observations of the plant. A plant that gets sufficient water and food will
take more light up to a point. You might want to experiment with your cut
plantlets by putting them in pots (remember the Rootone) and positioning
them differently, leaving light as the only treatment variable. Your goal
will be to figure out the maximum light exposure for optimal growth of the
species in question. The window position for your plant might be agreeable
once it gets underway again but you may have to screen or lightly whitewash
the panes if the light there proves too strong and you still want that venue
for the plant.
Now--after all that--my confession is that landscape tree aloes are much
more familiar to me. You may want
to search under some combination of terms like +aloe* +(culture OR growing)
to see what others have to advise.
If you don't find anything after shaking the net as unlikely as that is,
repost and I'll go after my reference books.
In the interim while web surfing, go to Google or other search engine with
images and look at the range of
Aloes, not to mention the non-succulent members of the group. You should be
entertained.
Let us know how your garden grows....
Regards,
Edward Hennessey
"Michelle" <belld...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:8sqr00hu85u9l89sd...@4ax.com...
Michelle
with my aloe and hopefully move up to some mor complex cacti. I
really hope to add a large sun porch to my house some day and make it
into an indoor garden I live in a fairly cold winter state
pennsylvania and can't really enjoy my garden all year so I'm saving
my pennies and hopefully one day it will be realized
I'll keep you posted on my plants progress.
I have one question which is unrelated do palms have to have a lot
of light can thay be in a bathroom
My house is too dry for my palm So I wondered If I could keep it in
my bathroom where it is always humid?
or will the lack of sun light kill it there is no windows in my bath
or should I keep it in the living room and just give it a shower
frequently ?
Thanks again so much for all your advice
sincerely
Michelle
"Love is the water in he garden of life"
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 06:35:57 GMT, "Edward Hennessey"
Edward Hennessey
>> My house is too dry for my palm So I wondered If I could keep it in
> my bathroom where it is always humid?
> or will the lack of sun light kill it there is no windows in my bath
> or should I keep it in the living room and just give it a shower
> frequently ?
> Thanks again so much for all your advice
> sincerely
> Michelle
>
> "Love is the water in he garden of life"
>
Palms are frequent landscape plants here. They are definitely sun lovers, so
I think the bathroom
would not be hospitable. What is so interesting about palms is how few of
the available species are
seen around. If you search under +palms +"dana point", there is a dealer
there with a very nice assortment
of the less common species, some of which are quite breathtaking when they
reach size and flower.
Regards,
Edward Hennessey
Kay
I have a big palm in my living room and was having the same problem with
being dry, now I run a humidifier near it, its a brand new one and I
only use filtered drinking water in it. The palm looks like its doing
better.
Kay
Michelle
Thank you for the great advice I loved my palm so much though I gave
it to a friend who is magical with tropical plants and has a veritable
jungle for a house She much appreciated the addition and I know it's
in good hands I get visitation rights when ever i want :- ) so I guess
I'm ok with that but I'm goingh to try a humidifier any way for my
other plants and myself what kind do you use brand I mean I've
actually thought of adding one to my central air but I'm not sure
about that .
or all the great advice
Michelle
"Love is the water in the garden of life"
Edward Hennessey
I have greenhouse--stovehouse actually--shadehouse and landscape
environments and none of them
are humidified in my Mediterranean climate. Unless we are talking some
special cases, succulents generally
don't need that.
One thing that does help, is an overhead rinse between waterings with fresh
water or ,preferably, distilled and
deionized water. Some time back I read of a greenhouse experiment where the
operator managed to track a 15%
growth improvement in the group of plants treated this way over the
comparitively identical control group not
receiving the treatment.
Regards,
Edward Hennessey
"Michelle" <belld...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:75m5109544gt4khbs...@4ax.com...
Michelle
pennsylvania I will try that sounds like a good Idea
Edward Hennessey
> Oh how I wish I lived in aMediterranean climate but I live in
> pennsylvania I will try that sounds like a good Idea
Michelle:
I lived in Rhode Island during school. I moved. There is nothing like being
able to roam the year outside.
Also, you might want to try look for the crested form of Aeonium Zwartzkop
which also
goes under at least two other names. See a picture of the beautiful
flowering cluster along
with cultural information at:
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Crassulaceae/Aeonium_Zwartkop.html
Regards,
Edward Hennessey
Kay
I use the cool vapor. Walgreen s brand. I guess a vaporizer?
Kay
Michelle
<seesi...@nospam.org> wrote:
where do you live now if you don't mind me askign
that was a very lovely cati on that web site I checked it out and
there was lots more to see I never thought of a cactus being able to
with stand much cold except the cold desert night
>h
Edward Hennessey
Southern California. Probably the best place to grow succulents is in the
Vista-Escondido general area, which is why most of the big succulent and
cactus growers are there.
Regards,
Edward Hennessey
"Michelle" <belld...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ggvb109iohllm7dlu...@4ax.com...