Question
A friend who was moving out of state was about to throw out two plants (an aloe vera and Christmas cactus). She said that they had problems and she didn't know how to fix them.

The leaves on the Christmas cactus look more wrinkled and misshapen than my other ones. I cut it back, but even the new leaves coming in look appear similarly misshapen. The whole plant just looks sad - it reminds me of when one of my minature roses got white flies - but I don't see any bugs or weird growths. I put it on the sill of a SE facing window (I live in MI) in full sun and gave it warm water, but it's not getting better.

The aloe keeps growing on its side. No matter how I repot it, the stem begins to turn. It's leaves are also floppy, but still turgid. It's also in a south-facing window in full sun.

Both of these plants are in quarantine, so they haven't affected my others. Are these separate issues or are they suffering from a disease?

Thanks!

Answer
Cate,

I suspect that the Christmas cactus has been overwatered and suffered from root rot. It will slowly grow new roots and come out of it. It needs as much sun as possible.

As for the aloe, laying on their sides is the nature of the larger varieties. I have a large one that always gets floppy as it gets bigger. The only way to get it to stand up straighter is to set the pot inside another taller container like a basket or a ceramic taller pot and that outside larger container will support it in an upright position. he trunks of the larger ones just aren't strong enough to support it. Good luck!!

Darlene