i share my apartment with a lovely aloe plant named Trey.
i got him at the beginning of my freshman year, so he is a probably about three years old. i repotted him once, during the summer between frosh and soph years, and was wondering if it would be wise for me to repot him again with fresh dirt, seeing how that dirt-changing summer was more than a year and a half ago. i dont want to refresh his dirt supply if it is not necessary though.
any dopers out there know the rule of thumb as to how often you are supposed to change your plant’s dirt?
Place one hand on the soil surface, one hand on the bottom of the pot and invert the plant. Gently slide the root ball out of the container and look at the roots. If you see more roots than soil it’s time to pot up. If they’re really bound up tight and circling the inner wall of the pot, cut them 4 or 5 times vertically with a sharp knife to promote outward growth.
Don’t forget to fertilize with a water soluble fertilizer at a low rate every week.
This is what I do for my jade plant; aloe is also a succulent, so I imagine the care is quite similar. Once a year, change the soil. At that time, if the plant is becoming rootbound, you can either 1) pot it up into a larger pot, or 2) cut the roots back quite a bit so that it continues to fit in its current pot. If you do that, you’ll probably want to cut the leaves back as well.
Succulents do not need a lot of watering. Pinch the leaves; if they feel soft, or look wrinkly, it’s time to water. Water thoroughly, including a water-soluble fertilizer as mentioned above. Then don’t water again until the leaves are once more soft or wrinkly. For my jade plant, I can often go two or three months between waterings.
Good luck with the plant! I’ve been meaning to get an aloe for quite some time now. Also, you may want to try hanging out at the forums at gardenweb.com; there are a lot of knowledgeable people there (they have one forum specifically for cacti and succulents).
poor trey! i’ve been letting him languish in old moldy dirt for too long.
thanks for the info dopers - i’m not sure exactly what you mean by “cutting the roots,” though. well, obviously, i understand “cut” and “root,” but i thought plant’s roots were like cat’s whiskers, and you were never ever supposed to cut them. i dunno. i think i’ll check out that gardenweb.com -thanks for the tip, MsWhatsit : ) - and see what i find.
I think the OP’s concern is changing the soil, not because the roots are too cramped, but because he’s afraid the soil will run out of nutrients if it is not changed. Is the addition of fertilizer sufficient, or does the soil also need to be changed periodically for nutritional purposes?
Soilless media (aka potting soil) contain virtually no available plant nutrients. You must fertilize regularly. Uprooting a plant, knocking all the soilless media off of its roots and repotting will do more harm than good.
Think of it like hydroponics with the media giving you a bit of a fudge factor. You don’t have to continuously fertilize (like you would with hydroponics) but you do have to feed often at low rates. In fact, most professional growers now fertilize at a very low rate with every watering.
If you’re lazy buy some time release fert like Osmocote. It really works well. Don’t forget to add more when it peters out. :rolleyes:
