PlantRx

Aloe vera dying

By Karim DiabatePublished Updated How these guides are built

Before anything else, find out whether the plant is actually dying. An aloe vera can look finished from above and still be perfectly alive below, and the checks below tell you which situation you are in before you decide whether to intervene or to start again from a cutting.

A healthy Aloe Vera, photographed for reference
A healthy aloe vera for comparison. This is a reference photo, not a picture of the problem. Photo by MidgleyDJ and Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

What is specific to this plant

  • A thirsty aloe curls its leaves inward and they feel thin and flat. A drowning one goes soft and translucent from the base up. These look nothing alike once you know to check the texture.
  • Aloe grown in too little light flops outward from the centre instead of holding an upright rosette, and it will not stand back up.
  • Reddish or bronze leaves are usually sun stress or cold, and are not a disease.

What it could be, and how to tell

These look alike in a photograph, so each one below lists what you would ALSO see if that is the cause. Work down the list and stop at the one where the other symptoms match too.

most common

1. Overwatering, and the root rot that follows

What else you would see

  • lower leaves going translucent, yellow and squishy rather than wrinkled
  • leaves dropping at the lightest touch
  • a stem that is soft or darkened at the soil line
  • soil or mix still wet several days after watering, when this much should have dried: the whole pot
How to confirm it: Slide the plant out of its pot and look at the roots. Healthy ones are firm and pale. Brown, soft, or hollow when you press them means rot, and that changes what you do next completely.

What to do

  1. Stop watering and let it dry down this far: the whole pot.
  2. Check that the pot drains and empty any saucer or decorative outer pot it sits in. Water held out of sight keeps the mix wet whatever you change above it, and it stays invisible until you lift the pot.
  3. If the roots are soft and brown, trim them back to firm tissue with a blade sterilised first and repot into fresh gritty cactus or succulent mix.
common

2. Pups still firm at the base of a lost rosette

What else you would see

  • the main rosette soft, brown or lifting away from the soil
  • small offsets around the base still plump and firm
  • the pups holding their colour while the parent has lost it
  • a stem that is soft at the soil line on the parent only
How to confirm it: Before deciding the plant has gone, clear the mix away from the base and press the offsets around it. An aloe produces pups with roots of their own, so a rotted parent very often sits in a pot with several perfectly sound plants around it, and lifting the parent out is what finds them.

What to do

  1. Lift the whole pot out and separate the pups from the parent, keeping any that are firm with roots attached.
  2. Throw the parent away if it is soft at the base, rather than trying to save a rotted stem.
  3. Pot the pups into a gritty free-draining mix in small pots, and leave them dry for a few days before the first watering.
common

3. Underwatering

What else you would see

  • leaves wrinkled and flexible rather than soft and translucent
  • the pot noticeably light to lift
  • growth stalled, with no new leaves for a long stretch
How to confirm it: Dry soil pulled away from the pot wall, with foliage that improves noticeably within a day of a thorough soak. If a thorough watering changes nothing in twenty four hours, stop assuming thirst and check the roots.

What to do

  1. Water thoroughly until it runs freely from the drainage holes, rather than a splash at the surface.
  2. If the mix has gone water-repellent and the water runs straight through, stand the pot in a basin of water for half an hour to rewet it properly.
  3. Water on dryness rather than on a fixed day of the week, and this is how far it should dry: the whole pot.
less common

4. Not enough light

What else you would see

  • widening gaps between the leaves as the plant stretches toward the window
  • new growth noticeably paler and smaller than old growth
  • the plant leaning hard in one direction
How to confirm it: Stretched growth and shrinking new leaves together, on a plant whose watering is otherwise right. Aloe vera wants bright light with some direct sun.

What to do

  1. Move it to bright light with some direct sun.
  2. Cut back the stretched growth. It will not compact again on its own, and cutting back is what triggers branching.
  3. Turn the pot every couple of weeks so it grows evenly.
less common

5. Cold or a draught

What else you would see

  • damage that appeared within a few days of a cold snap, or of the heating or air conditioning coming on
  • the plant sits near a window, an exterior door or a vent
  • the damage is worst on the side facing the cold
How to confirm it: Sudden onset on the exposed side only, following a temperature change. A leaf resting against cold glass overnight is enough to do it.

What to do

  1. Move the plant away from the glass, the door or the vent.
  2. Damaged tissue will not recover. Leave it unless it turns soft, which is the point at which it can start to rot.
uncommon

6. Spider mites

What else you would see

  • fine pale stippling or speckling across the leaf rather than solid patches
  • very fine webbing where the leaf meets the stem
  • a dusty look to the underside of the leaf, worst in warm dry air
How to confirm it: Hold a sheet of white paper under a leaf and tap it sharply. Specks the size of dust that then move are mites. The stippling is what separates this from any watering problem.

What to do

  1. Isolate the plant from your others straight away, before anything else.
  2. Rinse the leaves thoroughly, undersides included, with a strong spray of water, and repeat every few days. Mites breed faster than a single treatment can keep up with.
  3. Raise the humidity around the plant. Mites thrive in warm dry air and struggle in humid air.
  4. If you choose to use a treatment product, follow the label on it exactly. The label is the legal instruction and it overrides anything written here.
uncommon

7. Rootbound, or soil that is worn out

What else you would see

  • roots circling the inside of the pot or escaping the drainage holes
  • water running straight through with almost no absorption
  • two or more years in the same pot, and smaller new growth each season
How to confirm it: Lift the plant out and look. A dense mat of circling roots with very little mix left means the pot can no longer hold what the plant needs.

What to do

  1. Repot one size up in spring into fresh gritty cactus or succulent mix, teasing the outer roots loose.
  2. Feed during the growing season, following the instructions on the label of whatever you buy.

Common questions

How do I tell if my aloe vera is dead or just struggling?

Look below the foliage. Firm roots that are firm and pale, and a firm stem or base, mean a living plant that can regrow even if it is bare. Everything soft, brown and collapsing means the plant has gone, and the honest answer is to start again.

Is it worth taking cuttings?

Often, and sooner rather than later. If any stem is still firm and green, a cutting taken now has a far better chance than the parent does, and it costs you nothing to try both at once.

Should I repot a plant that is struggling?

Only if the roots are the problem. Repotting is stressful and a plant that is struggling for light or water does not benefit from it. If the roots are rotting, repotting is the treatment rather than an extra stress.

Before you act on any of this

This is general plant care guidance for a plant, not advice about people or animals. We never tell you whether a plant is safe to eat or touch, and we never tell you a plant is safe for a child or a pet. If a child or animal may have eaten any part of a plant, contact Poison Control (US 1-800-222-1222) or a vet immediately rather than reading further.

Treatment advice here is deliberately category level. We do not give product names, mixing ratios or application intervals. Whatever the label on the product in your hand says is the instruction that counts, and following it is your responsibility.

Where this comes from

The general horticultural facts behind this differential come from published university extension and Royal Horticultural Society guidance. What is specific to this plant, and the order the causes are ranked in, is ours, and the methodology page says where that reasoning stops being reliable.

Other aloe vera problems

Not sure which one it is?

PlantRx is an iPhone app that reads the photo and gives you the same kind of ranked differential you just read, for your plant specifically, with the evidence it based each answer on. The first diagnosis is free, in full. There is no subscription and no account.

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