I recently purchased an aloe vera plant and for a while it was doing just fine but the other day I tore off a piece and squeezed some juice onto a dry patch of skin and to my surprise it was a neon yellow colour and smelled SO foul! It almost had a rotting chicken smell or the smell of really bad body odor... ugh, it's difficult to describe the awful smell. It was bad. I then went to check the aloe vera plant I've been growing for my mother and was royally pissed off to find out that the same thing had happened to her's. Ugh. What am I doing wrong? Are the plants done for? Please give me some advice! Thanks!
You mean you picked a leaf off your mom's plant to see if it smelled too? Aloe definatley does not smell pleasent, and it does have a brown/yellow sap that comes out when you pick the leaves..for the most part it should be clear though.
We keep a Aloe on the kitchen window for the rare grease burns while cooking. The times I have pinched off some to use I haven't smelled anything out of the ordinary. I used to buy Aloe at a health food store in Kauaii to use as a body rub for all the salt water and sun. No smell there either. Try re-potting the plant with fresh soil and see what happens....
Sounds like you may be over watering. These guys don't need but maybe monthly watering under most conditions.
I kill aloe - don't know how, but I can kill it VERY quickly. My mom grows aloe though, and it does tend to leave your skin just barely greenish. And it does have a smell, but it smells... plant-y, not nasty at all. I'd guess gardener's right too - it IS a desert plant love, mom
You may be over watering... but that yellow sap is normal. The yellow sap is like the aloe's version of a band-aid, or stitches. It helps the plant to heal. Having never seen your plant I'd have to guess you pulled a small thin leaf, right? The reason I say this is that the yellow sap is found directly under the outer green skin and BEFORE the aloe gel (which is the clear stuff you want). So if all you had was yellow sap you are pulling from a VERY thin leaf. THe best way to harvest the gel is to take a large piece of the leaf, slice off the green skin so you're only left with a large clump of gel. YOu can squeeze the gel out, or just rub it on like a small chunk of soap. Anyway, the sap, or "aloe bitters" is totally normal.... Then again, you might also have an aloe ferox plant, which has more yellow sap than clear gel. Post a picture of the plant!
The yellow sap is also the laxative part of the plant that's used in some nutritional supplements ;P I have one aloe ferox plant, it's very small though. Wild aloe has the most medicinal value used internally because of it's high polysachharide content...
best thing is to just ignore aloe, water it at times & keep it out of direct sunlight, let it feel as if it is living in new mexico under a bush, it will thrive
Ugh, I've been ignoring the plant fairly well & it still stinks like awful body odor & onions... ughhhh. There doesn't seem to be anything too physically wrong with the plant, really... it's just the awful smell, mostly. Maybe it's because it's in direct sunlight.. I'll move it. If it persists, I'll share a photo. Thanks for the tips, loves!
If it doesn't look too bad it's probably not in direct sunlight. After reading this I tried an experiment with my aloe plant and put it in direct sunlight for a week it went limp and BROWN. So I moved back to the sade and ignored it and now it's fine... I'm thinkin you might have an aloe ferox plant.
If it doesn't look too bad it's probably not the direct sunlight. After reading this I tried an experiment with my aloe plant and put it in direct sunlight for a week it went limp and BROWN. So I moved back to the shade and ignored it and now it's fine... I'm thinkin you might have an aloe ferox plant.
Exactly, the only time I had problems was when I left it in direct sunlight or let the frost nip it, but it survived going on ten years now, But when I cut a piece off it's always clear and no smell. but it will turn yellow after it has been on your skin for several hours.
