Gardening Tips and Tricks!

tkrik · 06-08-2008, 11:11 AM

Thanks to Curious, she let me know about this thread. I am hoping someone can help me out.

My Aloe Vera plant out grew it's little pot so I replanted it in a larger pot. It is now getting squishy and is looking sick. I don't know how to revive it. The soil is moist enough and certainly this little succulent plant does not need more water.

How can I rescue my little baby from demise? I love succulents especially the aloe plants. We use the aloe for all sorts of things.

mrsD · 06-08-2008, 12:25 PM

1) your new soil is too moist. Some new potting soils now
come with moisture enhancers added (Miracle grow and some others)...for plants that like to dry out between waterings
this is just not for THEM! Dry lovers may rot. So read the bag of potting soil carefully. For most container plants the moisture thingy is helpful, but not for cactus or succulents.

2) OR... when you moved it, you either buried the crown slightly
deeper by accident, and the crown is rotting out. Some plants cannot stand to be pinched or have soil around their crowns.
I have done dry loving plants, and I try to put sand around the crowns of those. So moisture drains away from that critical area.

I've never done Aloes, but I have seen them.

This website gives some tips...they are similar to what I said.
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/aloe~vera.html

I didn't know they had shallow roots...that would explain maybe your rotting problem?

braingonebad · 06-08-2008, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsd

Thanks for the offer! Wish I could! I might take you up on it this fall though!

You know that tree event you had...reminds me of a Det News/Free Press column writer...she was very popular and very good. I can't recall her name right now..this was a while ago.
She was sitting in her driveway in her car while a storm raged..waiting for it to let up so she could run into the house.
And a tree fell across her car and killed her. A really FREAK thing. ( I tried to find it online, but it is too old).

I have a big packet of seeds of Rudbeckia that I will start up north and get going there. I have tons of outdoor time then.
It is a good way to increase perennials. I do them on the old dock we use as a deck. It is high off the water (back when the water levels were so high) and I can stand next to them and not bend over etc. (like a long table). Easy on the body.

I found some very nice seed suppliers on Ebay. Very reasonable price for huge amounts. So that is where I got mine this season. Depending on my back/leg I might even dig up
some oxeye daisies... and bring them back. This would depend on how many reseeded themselves last season. (the deer don't eat them...it is the only thing the deer avoid).

That's what I should do, sell seeds on ebay.

I was trying all morning to think if rudbeckia are really black eyed susan or purple coneflowers. Dang, my brain! I think BES are coreopsis.....I never was good at remembering that.

I have tons of both tho so come on down whenever.

It was too cold this spring for the seeds to even start outside, and I just got mine out a couple days ago. I had some poppies, salvia and other stuff I'd saved. They're already sprouting.

braingonebad · 06-08-2008, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsd

1) your new soil is too moist. Some new potting soils now
come with moisture enhancers added (Miracle grow and some others)...for plants that like to dry out between waterings
this is just not for THEM! Dry lovers may rot. So read the bag of potting soil carefully. For most container plants the moisture thingy is helpful, but not for cactus or succulents.

2) OR... when you moved it, you either buried the crown slightly
deeper by accident, and the crown is rotting out. Some plants cannot stand to be pinched or have soil around their crowns.
I have done dry loving plants, and I try to put sand around the crowns of those. So moisture drains away from that critical area.

I've never done Aloes, but I have seen them.

This website gives some tips...they are similar to what I said.
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/aloe~vera.html

I didn't know they had shallow roots...that would explain maybe your rotting problem?

I think you hit it on the head with the soil being too moist. I have an aloe. It does not like to be re-potted, does not like to be moved, and needs very little water.

I use cheap potting soil - no water retaining or fertilizer added, just dirt. I mixed it with really bad, old, used potting soil - about 2 parts new to one part old.

That way, it was almost dusty and had less nutrients in it. It does not like plastic pots, either. Terra cotta works best. They like a hard environment. And only go up one pot size when you replant it. They kind of like to be crowded.

It can be moved outside for summer, but it looks bad until it adjusts. Then it prefers inderect light and needs to be where the wind won't beat it up and it won't get knocked over.

I must be neglecting mine well as I've had it 3+ yrs and it now has babies.

tkrik · 06-08-2008, 09:26 PM

Thanks! I did think of the moisture part as I wet the soil some before replanting. I may have had it too wet. I'm going to let it dry out for a while before watering.

I did add rocks to the bottom to keep it well drained. I will try the sand idea as well.

I didn't know about the larger pot.

I went a few sizes up to give it plenty of room to grow.

Again, thanks for the help.

braingonebad · 06-08-2008, 09:32 PM

You want just enough pot to hold the plant up, really. And that's one of the reasons clay works - those aloes can get big, so the heavy clay pot doesn't have to be large to be able to stand up to the plant.

I'll try to post a pic of mine - it's pretty big, about a foot tall. It looks like it should be growing out west.

tkrik · 06-08-2008, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braingonebad

You want just enough pot to hold the plant up, really. And that's one of the reasons clay works - those aloes can get big, so the heavy clay pot doesn't have to be large to be able to stand up to the plant.

I'll try to post a pic of mine - it's pretty big, about a foot tall. It looks like it should be growing out west.

Oh man, I've traumatized the poor thing. It is a clay pot but too big for the guy I'm guessing. I am hesitant about replanting again right now. I may bring it in to a nursery that is close by my house tomorrow. They should be able to help us out.

Succulents are great plants for us westerners, especially in the arid climates and the heat we have in the summer.

tovaxin_lab_rat · 06-08-2008, 10:17 PM

Rudbeckia is Black-eyed Susan

Coreopsis is Tickseed

Coneflower is also known as Echinachea

braingonebad · 06-10-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Av8rgirl

Rudbeckia is Black-eyed Susan

Coreopsis is Tickseed

Coneflower is also known as Echinachea

Thanks. That's why I'm confused - because I have all three, and tickseed looks like a Susan relative.

I knew tickseed was a coreopsis so I keep wanting to put the Susans in there too, duh.

I have a question...can you divide a galardia? I have some kind of hybrid - one popped up that looks almost like the color of my goblin, but more red, and tall as the burgundy galardia.

Go figure, as much trouble as I've had getting either of those to grow, now there's a volunteer that's going gangbusters. It just came up last year - in a bad spot of course - it needs to be moved and maybe divided if possible.

mrsD · 06-10-2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braingonebad

Thanks. That's why I'm confused - because I have all three, and tickseed looks like a Susan relative.

I knew tickseed was a coreopsis so I keep wanting to put the Susans in there too, duh.

I have a question...can you divide a galardia? I have some kind of hybrid - one popped up that looks almost like the color of my goblin, but more red, and tall as the burgundy galardia.

Go figure, as much trouble as I've had getting either of those to grow, now there's a volunteer that's going gangbusters. It just came up last year - in a bad spot of course - it needs to be moved and maybe divided if possible.

Some black-eyed susans are highly colored...like that!
If it is tall, maybe it is just a "sport".
Black-eyed susans are also called Gloriosa Daisies:
http://www.humeseeds.com/glrsadsy.htm

The rudbeckia typically have hairy leaves.

Here are gallardia types:
http://www.eastendcommunity.com/plants/gaillardia.htm

They do look alike! There are even black-eyed daisies with green eyes now...I put in some seeds last year up north when we left, and hope some took, and will grow this year.
I'll take pictures of them if they germinated. (I learned this trick a while back, and it works sometimes! I sprinkle them in my containers on the porch and if Mother Nature is in a good mood, I have some surprises when I get back up there. They are protected from rabbits and deer on the porch wall).

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