Why is my Aloe Vera Plant Brown?
The Complete Truth

Introduction

You have a beloved aloe vera plant, and you’re worried about its wellbeing. If anything happens to the plant, you probably feel sad and want to figure out what is wrong with it right away. It is upsetting to see your plant turn brown, and you want to know why this is happening and what you can do to resolve the situation.

Poor moisture content is one thing that causes aloes to brown. This color could also signify that the plant is dealing with improper temperatures, pest issues, fertilizer issues, or an underlying disease. There are several preventive measurements you can take to avoid this situation from occurring.

Why is my Aloe Vera Plant Turning Brown?

Aloe vera turns brown when it is overwatered, underwatered, struggling with a disease, dealing with a pest attack, or harmed by too strong of a fertilizer.

A brown-turning aloe vera plant might have urged you to read this blog. Well, we’ve got you covered. The aloe vera plant is probably the most ancient and non-demanding plant serving humanity in several different ways. You might have an aloe vera plant somewhere on your porch, backyard, patio, or room’s nook, not demanding anything ample but providing a quick solution to so many of your issues.

The majestic Aloe Vera Gel offers immense health benefits and works amazingly to enhance skin and hair health. It requires minimum care, and usually, it doesn’t rot unless you severely neglect it.

Even though this little plant is packed with many healthy essentials, it can turn brown sometimes, and the reasons are:

1. Exposure to too high or to low moisture levels
2. Exposure to either very hot or cold temperatures
3. Pest attack on the aloe vera plant
4. Excessive use of fertilizers
5. Plant diseases like Aloe Rust & Basal Stem rot

1. Overwatering or Underwatering

Watering the aloe vera plant incorrectly is one of the primary reasons why it may be turning brown. To keep the plant at its healthiest, you need to water it adequately. If your plant has been overwatered, it is likely to have brown spots on the leaves.

These soggy and wet spots tend to spread quickly and overtake the entire plant. While they may initially be limited to leaves, they eventually spread. If you observe this happening, please stop overwatering the plant.

Sometimes you might take people’s advice of keeping the succulent underwatered too seriously. Both practices leave a terrible impact on the plant, but as compared to overwatering, underwatering is a relatively more straightforward problem to fix.

Pro Tip

Avoiding Future Issues

Keep checking your plant for tiny spots to catch the issue at the very start.

2. Excessive Cooling or Heat

If you relocate your Aloe Vera plant from indoors to a place directly exposed to the sun, it won’t survive for long. If you want to place the plant outdoors, we highly suggest putting it in a place where it is not right in front of the sun. Filtered sunlight is the way to go.

But if it has been placed indoors for quite a long time, you need to make it slowly adjusts to a hotter environment. Place the plant in a spot where it is both under a shade and is not too hot. Keep putting it back indoors after few hours for some days until you see the plant is not turning brown.

The same goes with extreme cold; if the plant stays somewhere where it gets continuous cold shocks, that would be harmful to it.

Pro Tip

Avoiding Future Issues

Watering less frequently can be beneficial to bring the plant back to life. The idea is to avoid overwatering at all costs!

3. Pest Control

Some types of pests can cause your Aloe plant to suffer damage. Mites, Flies, Fungi, Gnats, Aphids, and Mealybugs just wreak havoc if the plant becomes a victim. One clear sign that something is off with the plant is the appearance of a cotton-like nest over some leaves.

When you feel that the leaves are turning brown despite proper watering, observe if any tiny creatures are resting or moving over the leaves. If you see any cotton-like fungus or see pests moving, clean them off with a soft cloth. Cut the damaged leaves to save the rest of the plant.

If you notice the pests at the earliest, there will be a fair chance to save the plant from damage. The recovery also depends on the pest type that has attacked the plant.

If you still think you need to learn more, you can read the Essential Succulents The Beginner’s Guide to know everything about aloe vera and other succulents.

Essential Succulents: The Beginner's Guide

This is the ultimate guide to learning which succulents are best for beginners, along with a basic understanding of how to care for and creatively design with them.

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Pro Tip

Avoiding Future Issues

Aloe Vera plant blooms best between 55°F to 80°F. Always keep the plant in a warm place as it has a low tolerance for frost and chilly weather.

4. Fertilizer Issue

Aloe Vera is a succulent that blooms best when provided with no extra pampering. Of course, you should keep a check on fulfilling the necessary treatment, but succulents perform best when given little care.

If you are too generous with the fertilizer, you may end up saturating the soil with chemicals. The chemicals may interact with the roots and burn them, which will cause the death of the plant.

Repot the Aloe Vera plant with new soil and feed it lightly.

Pro Tip

Avoiding Future Issues

Cut off the damaged leaves and repot the plant to give it a fresh start.

5. Any Prevailing Disease

The most common conditions which can cause the plant to turn brown and damaged are Aloe Rust, Basal Stem rot, Anthracnose disease, and Bacterial soft rot. The plant catches these diseases because of overwatering.

Whenever you water the plant, ensure you don’t pour any water over the leaves. This will protect the plant from any potential fungal growth.

Conclusion

Aloe vera turns brown when it is either underwatered, overwatered, affected by a disease or attacked by a type of pest. It is crucial to revive the plant, or else it will die.

The Aloe Vera plant is succulent, which doesn’t require too much care to thrive. But there are some things which must be taken care of to ensure the succulent’s wellbeing. Please do not overwater or underwater them, keep a good check of potential infestations, and never overuse fertilizers so that you can enjoy your aloe vera for a long time.

If you’re interested in learning more about aloe vera, I recommend you read our post about What is Aloe Vera Good For.

What is Aloe Vera Gel Good for? Internal & External Benefits

Aloe Vera gel is one of the most popular go-to ingredients to have on hand during the sunny summer months to treat sunburns. But it can be used for so much more!

Posted in: Aloe Vera Succulent Turning Brown Pest Control Underwatering Overwatering