Hello, everyone. I am not sure what this plant is and I thought it was an aloe vera, but now I'm not so sure. Also, it turned black at one point but it recovered and started turning green again. Recently, it started sprouting a lanky "pup" (or maybe a flower?) on its side. Could someone help me identify what this plant is, please, and how to properly care for it? Thank you!
Yup, Aloe vera with a nice, healthy pup growing on it. I've never seen one grow anything like what's coming out of the middle, though - safe bet is it's a flower stem, but generally those don't have their own leaves.... Hmmmm..... Definitely, though, you need to repot your poor aloe into sandier soil (look for Cactus mix at the store) and it may also want a larger pot - my Mom (who has grown far more aloe than I have) says that the weird growth thingy you're seeing happens when Aloes have squashed feet.
Thank you, Lorax. Yeah, the lady that gave this to me has a ton of them and she gave me a few. A few days later after taking them home, they all turned black... so I threw them away, but kept THIS ONE. A few days later it's all green again (and if you notice it has blackening outer leaves). I've had this since summer of last year and I haven't had time to repot it. I just repotted my African Violets (I've stuck some of the leaves I cut off in dirt, some in water), Haworthia Reinwardtii (which I also took some pups to try to propagate), and Jades (small leaf and big leaf ones, I've got a ton of them that I had cut off from a 40+ yr old plant last year). I'm getting ready to restart my Staghorn fern to a nicer (and more appropriate) pot. I will transplant my Aloe Vera today, too! What do you think I should do with the weird growth on the side of it (the flower looking thing)? Sorry I write so a lot. :)
Let it go - then you'll find out whether it's a Keiki (an off-base pup), or if it's a flower. At any rate, it can be a conversation piece until you figure it out....
