I've had this about 3 years, and it's been fine up until a few months ago. The leaves are all floppy, and recently it started growing these grey bumpy mounds. Some other leaves have black spots on them (they aren't raised like the grey ones.) I water it weekly. It sits near a window facing east, so it gets strong morning light and is shaded in the afternoon. Thanks for the help.
first, watering weekly is way too often for aloe...it's a succulent and stores water in the leaves...even with the unglazed clay pot, you've probably got root rot going. the pic of the base of the stems isn't too clear...i almost want to say mealy bugs. except you said they are grey bumps...then that would indicate some type of scale bug. if there's any white fluff there, mealy. treat with q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol. if scale bugs, treat with the same or use a mild inscecticidal soap. the black spots could be some type of fungus due to the overwatering. let the soil dry out really, really well. you might even want to unpot it and remove any mushy/dark roots and then repot in fresh soil - don't water for at least two weeks if you change the soil out.
Thanks for the quick responses. Could it be overwatering even if weekly I only give it a few drops? I just pulled it out and put it in a mixture of cactus soil, the roots seemed fine. Nothing mushy there. The grey bumps aren't fluffy at all, they are just dry and bumpy. Is Seven a good bug killer to try? first, watering weekly is way too often for aloe...it's a succulent and stores water in the leaves...even with the unglazed clay pot, you've probably got root rot going. the pic of the base of the stems isn't too clear...i almost want to say mealy bugs. except you said they are grey bumps...then that would indicate some type of scale bug. if there's any white fluff there, mealy. treat with q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol. if scale bugs, treat with the same or use a mild inscecticidal soap. the black spots could be some type of fungus due to the overwatering. let the soil dry out really, really well. you might even want to unpot it and remove any mushy/dark roots and then repot in fresh soil - don't water for at least two weeks if you change the soil out.
you'll have a much healthier plant if you hold off watering and then give it a thorough watering. until the problem is id'd i wouldn't treat with anything...you don't want to do more damage! good to hear that the roots re in good shape. maybe the droopyness is due to not getting enough water? that's likely since you clarified that you don't give it very much at the weekly watering. since you just unpotted and repotted it, give the roots a few days to get resituated and then give it a good thorough watering. since the soil is totally dry, you'll need to add it in increments and let it soak down - pour it in in various places around the top...so that you get all the soil basically pretty evenly saturated. continue adding water and then letting it soak down for a few minutes...when you just start to see water coming out the bottom drain holes, discontinue adding water. let the excess drain off and discard it. water again when the soil is dry down a couple inches...again, be thorough with the watering. can't quite tell what size pot that is...if it's 6 inch, you should only need to water about every 10-14 days. 8 inch pot and it should be every two to three weeks.
Thank you!! I'll visit back in a couple of weeks and see if it's improved. Thanks again for all the help.
Some things that Aloe's hate is overwatering, damp enviroments and draughts, they like hot dry and arid with plenty of all day sunshine, looking at the drroping stems in your photos seems to indicate that it has been overwatered or is in a damp enviroment. Also they like pots that they can grow into with plenty of room as the roots get quite large. Make sure that you add some sand into the soil and use something like peat mixed in as this will dry out quite quickly without rotting the roots, also some gravel and broken bits of pot or stone in the bottom of the pot will help to give good drainage. I grow aloe's out in my garden in England but only because they are in full sun in a highish rockery that drains very well. As to the problems, black marks are a sure sign of overwatering and the whole leaf can turn black, but as to the lumps you have the photos arent very clear so its hard to tell, I would spray it with something like bug clear anyway just to see if you do have some sort of infestation, that won't do too much harm to the plant if any at all. Aloes normally throw up lots of baby suckers all around the pot each year so if yours deos that I would quickly seperate them as soon as they are large enough and plant them in fresh clean pots and try again. Nath