I have a huge aloe that fell to the ground when the planter broke while trying to move it. I scooped up the dirt and plant back into the planter and set it aside until I could purchase a new planter and some more soil. Today was the day to transfer the plant to its new planter and I was shocked to find that there were no roots left on the plant. Every single cluster of aloe leaves that I lifted, the roots were all rotted away.

Is there a way to salvage this plant? I sure hope so because I've had it for years and I hate the thought of losing it Ironically, I had split into into another planter several years ago and just this past winter, gave one of the planters to my mother-in-law. She put it in the back of their van and as they accelerate down our driveway, the planter fell over and dirt went everywhere! When she got home, she scooped the dirt and aloe back into the planter, but hers is doing quite well unlike mine. =\

Help!

The tops still look OK, Tori, as long as they're not mushy.These are plants that store water and nutrients in the leaves so you can probably just set them on new potting soil, maybe prop them up a bit and mist, or water sparingly for a few weeks to get them rooted again.

A really well draining cactus mix would be good.

dyzzypyxxy said:The tops still look OK, Tori, as long as they're not mushy.These are plants that store water and nutrients in the leaves so you can probably just set them on new potting soil, maybe prop them up a bit and mist, or water sparingly for a few weeks to get them rooted again.

A really well draining cactus mix would be good.

Thank you Elaine! I will do that. The majority feel and look normal, except for the fact that they have no roots. There were a few that were swollen and mushy. I tossed them into the compost pile.

This is what I have left. I planted a few last night into the ceramic planter on the lower step, in hopes of saving some. I will plant the remainder tonight in the new planter I bought. Thanks again for the advice. Appreciate it!

I think it wouldn't hurt to just leave them laying out for a few days and then pot them back up. I have two big pots full of overrun. I didn't put them in soil, just stuck the extra in big plastic pots. They are still there more than two years later. At times I've pulled some out to plant in various places and they kick off and start growing. I should post photos of them. They actually look pretty good for something not really planted in a growing medium.

Here's a photo of the extra Aloe vera that is living in pots without any soil. They've been here for more than two years, though every year I dump the pots over and extract a few to plant. I have a big pot planted with them containing soil. It's very crowded now. The only way I've seen this plant killed is by letting hard freezes kill it (I usually have some of those every year) or by over watering it. The last is by far the most common, but I've never done it myself. I hardly ever give them water. They pretty much only get what drips on them from other containers or by rainfall. In winter, I just set these inside the garage.

You likely had soil that retained too much moisture, it's not at all uncommon to see succulents that appear healthy above ground, yet a sharp tug will reveal no roots at all, just like yours!
As long as the basal plate is intact they will grow fresh roots!
Letting them sit around, dry, for a few days or weeks would be good.
They need to scan over before they get into the dirt.
Setting them on top of the medium will work fine, or you can poke them in a little.
The main thing is to NOT water them for a while! Probably a month... Just keep plucking them out and checking for fresh roots, you can start watering again then.

Keep it dry, allow to callus, then repot to more well draining media, add more pumice to your soil. It has good recovery potential as long as it is kept dry and warm for now.

Donald, if that's not a solution for overwaterers, IDK what could be. Fascinating!

needrain said:I think it wouldn't hurt to just leave them laying out for a few days and then pot them back up. I have two big pots full of overrun. I didn't put them in soil, just stuck the extra in big plastic pots. They are still there more than two years later. At times I've pulled some out to plant in various places and they kick off and start growing. I should post photos of them. They actually look pretty good for something not really planted in a growing medium.

Wow! This is good to know because the ones I didn't plant in the dirt are in a plastic pot!!

Swayback said:You likely had soil that retained too much moisture, it's not at all uncommon to see succulents that appear healthy above ground, yet a sharp tug will reveal no roots at all, just like yours!
As long as the basal plate is intact they will grow fresh roots!
Letting them sit around, dry, for a few days or weeks would be good.
They need to scan over before they get into the dirt.
Setting them on top of the medium will work fine, or you can poke them in a little.
The main thing is to NOT water them for a while! Probably a month... Just keep plucking them out and checking for fresh roots, you can start watering again then.

Thank you! Good to know. I put them in the dirt the first day but forgot to water them - just got lucky, I suppose. The next day though, I misted them, but haven't watered them at all. I even put them up on the porch as it has been raining a lot this week, so they were out of the rain. Again, pure luck because I certainly didn't know any better! I will check them tomorrow to see if they have too much moisture from the misting last weekend.

tarev said:Keep it dry, allow to callus, then repot to more well draining media, add more pumice to your soil. It has good recovery potential as long as it is kept dry and warm for now.

Thank you. The ones I already planted should be dry and are definitely warm! They are up on the porch so have not had any rain. As I mentioned in another post, I did mist them lightly the day after I planted because I didn't know any better. The ones that are not in any soil, but in a pot got rained on so I brought them up on the porch too. Hopefully, it's not too late for them.

needrain said:Here's a photo of the extra Aloe vera that is living in pots without any soil. They've been here for more than two years, though every year I dump the pots over and extract a few to plant. I have a big pot planted with them containing soil. It's very crowded now. The only way I've seen this plant killed is by letting hard freezes kill it (I usually have some of those every year) or by over watering it. The last is by far the most common, but I've never done it myself. I hardly every give them water. They pretty much only get what drips on them from other containers or by rainfall. In winter, I just set these inside the garage.

Wow! That's amazing. I always brought them in during the winter and then back outside late spring. That's what happened this year, as I was bringing them out, the pot they were in dry rotted and the edge broke off and down they went. I just scooped the whole mess back into the pot and set it up on the porch; however, I did water it a little here and there until I could replant them. By the time I got around to replanting, that's when I discovered the roots were all gone. Seeing that picture is very encouraging to me.

My garage doesn't get freezing temps. I have some electric heaters just to avoid any spell that gets too cold. I think in your area a potted aloe would need protection from below freezing temps. They just don't need a lot of water.

But don't worry too much about rain, either. As long as they're in a fast-draining medium or no medium at all like Donald's, they will do fine. Mine are out in the garden just randomly scattered on top of the soil, and through the summer rainy season, they get a daily deluge, and very high humidity but they never rot. Pretty much take care of themselves.

I think in cold weather it's more important to keep them dry.

needrain said:My garage doesn't get freezing temps. I have some electric heaters just to avoid any spell that gets too cold. I think in your area a potted aloe would need protection from below freezing temps. They just don't need a lot of water.

They stay inside the house during the winter. But when I dumped the soil out of the broken pot, it was like concrete on the bottom! =O

dyzzypyxxy said:But don't worry too much about rain, either. As long as they're in a fast-draining medium or no medium at all like Donald's, they will do fine. Mine are out in the garden just randomly scattered on top of the soil, and through the summer rainy season, they get a daily deluge, and very high humidity but they never rot. Pretty much take care of themselves.

I think in cold weather it's more important to keep them dry.

I've had them for YEARS in that same pot and they were fine. Brought them inside during the winter and back out when the weather was warm enough. I guess the soil just solidified, or something, I sorted through and put whatever seemed like it wasn't too far gone into loose soil and some have already taken root and are doing well, some are just laying there in the soil not doing anything. As long as I can salvage a few, I'll be happy.

Thanks!

Aloe are incredibly tough plants. Other than drowning them or freezing them, they are almost impossible to kill. They would fit right in with weeds.