I have a couple aloe plants that don't seem to be really growing much. I'm pretty sure it's because I never bothered to look up what soil they really need and have just been keeping them in potting soil so they aren't getting the right balance of nutrients.
I would like to re-pot them into the proper soil to see if that will help them grow, but first I'd like to know, what is the proper soil type for aloes?
Use a cactus mix for aloes. This is basically to simulate desert conditions somewhat, with coarse mineral soil that has excellent drainage.
A good mix is:
2 parts sharp sand
2 parts coir
1 part pumice (for airiness)
Or any other wide range of ingredient mixes. That's just one I've used in the past, and it worked well. The hardest part of the process was wetting the mix, and I found that the whole thing was easier if I wetted the coir first, then mixed in the dry sand and pumice.
This mix provides some minerals, but not much nutrient-wise. I would fertilize with a weak, very low nitrogen extended release fertilizer on the top of the mix.
