Aloe vera plants came from Africa and they like dry climates. Alove vera plants known as aloe are succulents that have very little maintenance, but if you don’t perform minimum care for plants they may die.
Healthy aloe vera plants are in green color when they are unhealthy due to unfavorable conditions aloe leaves turn pale yellow color, and later turn brown if not cared for. The tip of the leaves becomes yellow, leaves dry out and wither, and finally, leaves become mushy and root rot will happen if they are not taken care.
Aloe vera plants turning yellow due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight, and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), wrong soil mix, bugs, and mold cause a color change.
My favorite aloe vera plant turned yellow, which I felt very bad and found the main cause of this change, I moved my aloe plant from inside to outdoors which caused unfavorable conditions for the plant to thrive which is less / more moisture, and more heat and thought the plant needs more water to thrive so, over-watered the plant because it’s outside, causing the plant to turn yellow.
These are the different unfavorable conditions for my aloe plant to turn into yellow color.
1. Over Watering
One of the most common main reasons for aloe vera plants turning yellow is overwatering or very bad drainage.
Once it is overwatered it changes color to yellow and later turns to brown and eventually rots away (die).
Sometimes you may be watering less but there is no drainage hole in the container and collected water makes the root rot and which results in overwatering for plants.
As aloe vera belongs to the Succulents group and likes a dry climate, they don’t like much water and it should have proper drainage, Aloe vera doesn’t like standing water.
You shouldn’t water Aloe vera frequently as other plants and don’t assume, if you water daily it will make awesome growth for the Aloe vera plant and it will flower.
There are two possible causes that you can overwater
- Water very frequently (maybe daily)
- Overwatering in one go maybe because you didn’t water for so many days or other reasons.
Above two cases you water it and you don’t have proper soil to drain well this also leads to a problem for aloe vera plants.
If you see your aloe plant has large or small colored spots that are squishy to touch then most likely your plant is suffering from an overwatering problem.
Before watering you need the check moisture level by keeping your fingers in the soil. If you feel sticky you should skip watering for that cycle.
How to fix the overwatering problems for the aloe vera plant?
1. Give some time to dry the existing water. If it’s standing water, unload it.
If this is the problem it can be solved easily. If you overwatered your aloe vera plant you need to take extra water out of it (from the pot) and let it dry.
While you are doing this activity don’t keep your plant in direct sunlight, if so you will make roots exposed to sunlight.
Meanwhile (while it is drying) you can remove the dead leaves from the plant.
2. Give the pot proper drainage holes and soil
Make sure your aloe vera plant soil pot drains the water successfully. If your pot doesn’t have a drainage hole at the bottom pot. You can make a drainage hole or shift the plan to another which have proper drainage and soil.
You should use a cactus soil mix or one part of builders’ sand, and the other parts use potting mix (you can also add use marble stones for aesthetics).
Don’t select pots that are too deep and hold the water for a longer time, select narrow or wider ones. You should basically search for a wider pot and less height pot, which is most suited for the aloe vera plants while you are buying or the one you are DIY.
3. Improve Watering habits
Aloe vera plants don’t need to water daily or alter days as other plants. if you are doing this your plant is being overwatered.
You need to wait till the top 2 inches of soil should be completely dry before you water it again.
Most people choose to water aloe vera plants every week or every 10 days. (depends on the season).
Experts say you need to test the aloe vera plant soil by keeping your hand in the soil to check the moisture level before you water. If it is sticky you need to skip watering for that cycle.
3. Sudden Change in Temperature Or Not Recommended Temperature
Just like a sudden change in sun exposure to the aloe vera plants, a sudden change in temperature affects aloe leaves to turn yellow or brown.
your aloe vera plant is outside and it’s cold outside? This will certainly damage aloe vera leaves if you don’t care properly.
How to fix it?
If the damage is done then you need to prune those leaves and take your aloe vera plant inside to care further.
Next time if you know it will be cold outside bring an aloe vera plant inside or consider buying a mini greenhouse instead.
1. Monitor Outside Temperature
If you live in a place where the constant weather changes then you need to keep an eye on the weather and move the aloe vera plant inside or outside gradually (don’t give any shock to the plant).
Maintaining a transition period is preferred to giving shock to the plant at one shot.
2. Don’t keep your plants near windows in summer (Hot windows)
Keeping Aloe vera plants pots directly in north-west windows will be hot in summer which impacts too much on aloe vera plants.
Move your Aloe vera plants to north or west-facing windows if they want to face south or west backup with a windowpane of about a foot of space.
2. Over Exposure to Sunlight
Did you notice pale yellow patches on aloe vera plant leaves? then it is sunburnt leaves because of Exposure to sunlight.
If your aloe vera is in extremely hot conditions like in the middle of the desert, most probably it cannot handle the direct sunlight all day long.
It is probably if you move your aloe vera plant from indoor to outdoor, from partial shade to full direct sunlight for the whole day. you can observe sunburn on aloe vera leaves. (Yellow patches on aloe vera plant leaves)
If you move your aloe vera plant from cold climate conditions to hotter climate conditions without an adjustment period, plants will get sunburnt easily from sun and heat.
How to fix sunburnt Aloe vera plants?
1. Limit the sun exposure to plant
When the aloe vera plant is sunburnt you need to limit the sun exposure time for the plant.
you can even move the plant to partial shade to help the plant revive. move it to an indoor area where you can give partial shade and bright indirect sunlight.
Try to keep your pot near the window and make sure it is not kept in the southwest-facing windows. make sure you give them indirect sunlight so that they won’t get too hot.
2. Keep the transition period (adjustment period)
When you want to transfer the aloe plant from a cooler place to a hotter place. you need to move it gradually for a few days so that it won’t get sun shock!
4. Bad Overwinter Or Dormancy Period
This is caused because when we try to grow the aloe vera plant in winter, where it needs to be dormant for time being.
You are watering more, and trying to fertilize in winter which is not suggested by experts.
How to fix Bad Overwinter?
Expert says we need to leave the aloe vera plant alone when it is in dormancy and cut down on watering while it is actively not growing.
you won’t even get good growth when you are growing at this season while in this season it should be best to save for the active growing season.
5. Fertilizer or Salt built on Top Soil of the Aloe Plant
Overtime or with the heavy use of fertilizer and salt can build up around the top layer of soil and aloe plants.
Certain minerals like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are needed for the life process of plants. Minerals in soil are converted to chemical salts by chemical activity in the soil. The microbial population of soil can be added by fertilizer.
With Heavy fertilizer, you can observe the top layer of soil forms a Yellow thin-crust residue.
With salt build-up (in Yellow color) you can also see some root damage as a result of more use of fertilizer.
Lack of nitrogen means low chlorophyll aloe plants show turning to Yellow.
How to fix it?
1. Remove mineral crust – Removing minerals
The first thing is you need to scrape the extra minerals from the plant just using fingernails or any other material.
Later you need to leach soil which means you need to run the quantity of water 5x the pot volume, through the soil to wash out extra minerals.
2. Remove excess fertilizer – Removing excess minerals
Once you scrape off the excess minerals or crust from the plant/pot. you need to remove the excess fertilizer from the pot.
You need to water the pot 5 times the volume of the pot which will wash out the extra minerals or fertilizer.
Indoor plants don’t need to fertilize often, How much light they get depends on how much we need to fertilize.
Plants with high light need 3-4 times fertilization. plants with medium light need only twice a year. Low-light plants need only once a year(with yearly once repotting)
Plants like aloe vera like to have 1-2 fertilization yearly, most probably in the spring season.
3. Use pure water – Reducing minerals in the water
use mineral water to water plants because tap water contains many minerals like chlorine and additives.
You can also external water filter to filter the minerals from the water.
If you don’t have mineral water, there is one more economical solution, which can collect the rainwater from pouring into the aloe vera plant.
4. Don’t over-fertilize – Only once in spring
As we discussed earlier Aloe vera plant likes to fertilize 1-2 times a year. If you over-fertilize this will cause a thin crust on the plant or topmost soil.
6. Nutrients Deficiency
If the Aloe vera plants don’t have enough nutrients plants will turn Yellow. Aloe vera plant is known for its low maintenance plant and can grow in poor soil conditions.
Still, plants can suffer from low nutrients. Due to the lack of nutrients, aloe cannot produce chlorophyll which nitrogen and magnesium are required to process.
How to Fix Nutrient Deficiency in the Aloe vera plant?
select proper fertilizer and soil, and use the soil which is made for succulents. you need to use cactus soil or one part of the pot mix and builders sand for another part of the aloe vera plant.
Experts suggest a liquid 10-40-10 mix of fertilizer or a special fertilizer that is made for succulents.
7. Too many Nutrients
This is the exact opposite of the previous thing. Too many nutrients are often from over-fertilizing the Aloe vera plant.
How to fix too many nutrients problem for the Aloe vera plant?
Remove excessive nutrients
If you already fertilized too much, then you may observe aloe vera is turning Yellow. So to remove excess nutrients, we need to flush 5 times the pot size of water.
Don’t Over Fertilize
To overcome excess fertilization, fertilize only in spring and once a year. To know if the plant is over-fertilized, a Yellow layer thin crust is formed on the top layer of the plant.
To overcome this need to scrape the Yellow layer and water the pot to remove the excess fertilizer.
8. Wrong mix of Dirt (Soil)
Did you try all the things above and still did not find the remedy for your plant then the culprit is the soil mix.
Aloe is succulent they don’t do well in potting mixed soil.
How to fix it?
For better results, Before you repot you need to water for 2 days, don’t create a shock for the plant, and before you start to loosen up the soil and do the following.
you need to select cactus soil for potting aloe. If you are building your own soil mix then you need to add one part of the soil mix and the other part builder soil.
you can add marble stones on top of the soil to look nice (aesthetics).
9. Bugs
Small bugs enjoy feeding on Aloe vera plants. maybe one of the reasons for the Yellow patches on the Aloe plant.
1. Mealy Bugs
mealybugs are young female bugs that pierce the plant tissue and suck out the sapling causing less growth, color change, or distorted plant tissue.
Mealybug colonies look Yellow at the base of the aloe plants, looking like small fuzz while females build their nests.
How to Control: Mealybugs can be controlled by squirting plants with water and rubbing mealy bug colonies with a soft cloth.
2. Scales
Scales are tiny insects that pierce plants that feed on fluids. To overcome this kind we need a tablespoon of insecticidal soap and 1 cup of isopropyl alcohol into 1 quart of water and spray to plant.
3. Mites
Aloe plants attract mites some kinds of mites can only be visible through a microscope. For this kind of bug, there is no solution you need to remove all affected leaves and throw them to stop spreading to other plants.
10. Mold
If the white stuff is soft/ moist probably it can be mold. which generally grow in wet soil.
The real culprit is not leaving the soil to dry between waterings or watering too often.
How to care for mold on the Aloe vera plant?
1. Remove the mold.
scrape the mold into the top layer of soil with a spoon. This will help to remove the existing mold on the soil.
2. Allow soil to dry between waterings.
Aloe vera plants like dry climates, when you pour more water into aloe vera plants or more often you water mold can develop in the soil. Here is how to solve it.
Increase light: move your plant from a shady place to a bright light side. This will help the plant to absorb the water.
Increase the air movement: If possible set up a fan to blow out gently on the soil surface.
Test soil moisture before watering: We need to test the soil moisture before we water, the test is simply you can put your hands on the soil, if the soil doesn’t stick to your hand then you can pour the water otherwise you need to skip.
11. Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller variety of aloe plant
Barbadensis Miller is one of the kinds of aloe vera plants. When aloe vera plants mature these spots will be disappeared.
In this kind of variety, we can observe leaves thicker and greener as the plant leaves grow. It flowers in summer (It can spike up to 35 inches tall), and have small yellow kind of teeth in the leaves, The flowers have yellow petals without any dots.
(Reference: https://desertsucculents.com/aloe-vera-barbadensis-miller-beneficial-variety/)
FAQ:
Why Are my aloe turning yellow?
Aloe vera plant is turning yellow due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight, and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
why is my aloe plant turning yellow and brown?
Aloe vera plant is turning yellow and brown due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
How do I save my yellow aloe vera plant?
Aloe vera plant is turning yellow due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight, and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
Why is my aloe turning yellow and soft?
Aloe vera plant is turning yellow and soft due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
why is my aloe plant turning yellow at the tips?
Aloe vera plant is turning yellow at tips due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
What does an overwatered aloe plant look like?
Aloe vera plant is turns yellow and brown due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight, and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
How do I know if my aloe is overwatered?
Aloe vera plant is turning yellow and brown due to excessive watering, overexposure to sunlight, and improper drainage systems are common causes. In addition to these sudden changes in temperature, deficiency in salts, too many minerals (over fertilizer), improper soil mix, bugs, and mold cause color change.
Final Thoughts:
I have moved my aloe vera plant inside and taken good care of it. Now it’s doing good. I hope it helped you take good care of your aloe vera plant, Let me know in the comments how did you cure your aloe plant of turning yellow. Happy Reading!
