Aloe, aloe, aloe
May 2, 2013 7:00 AM Subscribe
Put aloe plants outside, they turned brownish and don't look happy. Can I save them?
Last fall a neighbour who'd been growing aloe plants outside told me to take a few because they don't survive our winters. I planted four in a large pot and they did OK all winter with a bit of sun through a window.
Weather just turned nice so I put the pot outside, and now the plants, which were a healthy lively green, have turned a kind of sickly khaki. The temperatures stayed well above freezing, there was sun but not scorching sun, the plants are succulents so I don't over-water them, but they get a few splashes of water weekly.
I've brought them inside again assuming they weren't ready for so much sun all of a sudden, but they don't look well, although they're presumably still alive. Do they need more water? Is there anything else I should do to help them recover?
Last fall a neighbour who'd been growing aloe plants outside told me to take a few because they don't survive our winters. I planted four in a large pot and they did OK all winter with a bit of sun through a window.
Weather just turned nice so I put the pot outside, and now the plants, which were a healthy lively green, have turned a kind of sickly khaki. The temperatures stayed well above freezing, there was sun but not scorching sun, the plants are succulents so I don't over-water them, but they get a few splashes of water weekly.
I've brought them inside again assuming they weren't ready for so much sun all of a sudden, but they don't look well, although they're presumably still alive. Do they need more water? Is there anything else I should do to help them recover?
Don't you worry about your plant, it will come back. Even plants who like full sun get a shock when they go from indoor to outdoor. Your home has a relatively constant comfortable temperature but the outside in spring could plunge into the upper thirties or lower forties after being around seventy or so in the sun all day. That sort of drop pisses a plant off. Just be patient, it will grow new leaves and be green again.
posted by Yellow at 7:31 AM on May 2, 2013
posted by Yellow at 7:31 AM on May 2, 2013
Yellow: "Don't you worry about your plant, it will come back. Even plants who like full sun get a shock when they go from indoor to outdoor. Your home has a relatively constant comfortable temperature but the outside in spring could plunge into the upper thirties or lower forties after being around seventy or so in the sun all day. That sort of drop pisses a plant off. Just be patient, it will grow new leaves and be green again"
Yeah, they need to get acclimated. The "right" way to do it is to gradually increase the time they are in full sun from "none" to "all day". Aloes will tolerate full sun if they allowed to get used to it.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:52 AM on May 2, 2013
Yeah, they need to get acclimated. The "right" way to do it is to gradually increase the time they are in full sun from "none" to "all day". Aloes will tolerate full sun if they allowed to get used to it.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:52 AM on May 2, 2013
Mine got a reddish sunburn recently too :(
But I pulled them off the windowsill and onto a table inside my apartment and they are looking happier.
posted by rmless at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2013
But I pulled them off the windowsill and onto a table inside my apartment and they are looking happier.
posted by rmless at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2013
Best answer: There's nothing wrong with having an Aloe species in full sun- most of them are grown in full sun here in California. It is important to acclimate it slowly, but I wouldn't think twice about it being in full sun all day. The reddish tint is from rhodoxanthin, a chemical the plant produces to protect itself from light stress.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:24 AM on May 2, 2013
posted by oneirodynia at 9:24 AM on May 2, 2013
Response by poster: It took about six weeks but the aloe plants are now properly green again and are doing fine outside, but I'll know next year to acclimatize them more gradually.
posted by zadcat at 8:20 PM on June 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by zadcat at 8:20 PM on June 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
(The internet backs me up, but from personal experiance, I've got some aloe plants in a very, very sunny window,and they have a brownish tinge, while the ones in the shaded window are a brilliant green.)
btw, your plants will recover once they are out of the full sunlight. They'll just look a little sickly for a week or two.
posted by larthegreat at 7:05 AM on May 2, 2013