How do you save an aloe plant whose stem is weak and appears to be rotting?

Question

I have a large aloe plant that is probably 5 years old and has bloomed twice. Stem is very tall and leaves are approximately 2½ to 3ft (750 to 900mm) long and still very green except at the stem where they appear to be rotting. Also brown circular spots on some of the leaves. Very robust at the top however heavy and leaning over cannot support itself.

Q. How do I save this plant?

Also take a look here: Can we take out the whole root of Aloe Vera and replant it during transplant? & Can I save my damaged Aloe-Vera plant — Mike Perry, Sep 23 '11 at 17:13
Yes a photo will be useful. Are they rotting, or simply dying because they are old leaves? — winwaed, Sep 23 '11 at 17:13
I am new at this so bear with me here. The plant is probably 5 yrs old and has bloomed twice. Stem is very tall and leaves are approximately 2½-3 ft long and still very green except @ the stem. Also brown circular spots on some of the leaves. Very robust at the top however heavy and leaning over cannot support itself. I will try to post a picture, unfortunately a novice in that area too. — Rennie, Sep 23 '11 at 17:20
@Rennie Heads-up, I've moved the above "comment" information into your question. Please review & edit the actual question if need be... — Mike Perry, Sep 23 '11 at 17:34
@Rennie Did you have a read of the above "linked" 2 SE questions? If yes, did they help or not? — Mike Perry, Sep 23 '11 at 17:36
Thank you, Mike Perry, for editing. I viewed: Can we take out the whole root of Aloe Vera and replant it during transplant? & Can I save my damaged Aloe-Vera plant. Interesting, though may not be helpful with my plant. Three large leaves have fallen off from rot. How do I save this plant please? — Rennie, Sep 23 '11 at 17:45
@Rennie I'll echo what Winwaed and Mike have already said: A photo helps greatly! There are people here who are excellent at identifying issues/diseases from discolorations on the leaf. However, descriptions can only aid photos, not replace them. So please try to get hold of a picture as soon as you can. — Lorem Ipsum, Sep 23 '11 at 18:07
@Yoda I understand and will do my best to post a picture as soon as I can. — Rennie, Sep 23 '11 at 18:40
Is it getting enough light? When the soil touched the lowest leaves of my plants they started to rot. I usually mulch under mine so that the rain doesn't splash mud on the undersides of the leaves. — J. Musser, Sep 25 '11 at 01:25
My success with aloe vera seems to be due to never (well, only once a year) watering it, and, being just under a verandah, it only gets small splashes of rain. — Lisa, Nov 22 '11 at 23:10

J. Musser · Answer 1 · 2014-07-15T17:07:44.813

Rotting in aloes is caused by fungus. The fungus enters through weak or dead growth, and spreads and grows when any of the following factors are present:

Very high humidity
Low light
Too much water
Poor drainage
Extended low temperatures
Extensive cuts or bruises
Sitting water at the base of the leaves
Sunburn (usually only in potted plants moved from low to full sun)
Too much fertilizer

Prevention is better than cure. Try to provide the best conditions you can (ie, the opposite of the factors listed above). To control, apply a fungicide according to the directions on the label, until the infection is gone. Reapply at any sign of recurrence.

I had some problems with rot in my potted aloes, until I repotted them into a lighter mix.

How do you save an aloe plant whose stem is weak and appears to be rotting?

1 Answers1

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