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I have read that for plants that have been just re-potted you have to wait some days. For the Aloe Vera in particular, I have seen some saying to wait for 2 days and others 2 weeks.

I just repotted it so that the soil was special for cactus as the previous one didn't drain properly and the tips were getting brown. The new soil looks dry after just one day, and I was supposed to water it just when the whole soil is dry. enter image description here

Do I really have to wait more? For how long? Why?

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2 Answers 2

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The trouble with gardening is, ask a panel of experts a question and you'll get 3 different answers. I remember your original question on this plant and then, you believed you should wait for the peat soil it was in to dry out before attempting to repot in different soil. That wasn't true, and I don't think this latest thing is any more true either - when I suggested you should repot immediately, I also said 'water in well' after repotting, and 'allow to drain freely'. And that, as far as I'm concerned, is exactly what you should do, assuming the new potting mix you've used is gritty/sandy and free draining. However, that said, an aloe will go for some time with no water at all, and yours was apparently suffering from being overly wet, so if you prefer to follow the advice of whatever other source you're using, it probably won't come to any harm.

And not watering immediately after repotting any other type of plant is exactly the opposite of what you're supposed to do, so if you repot, say, a shrub or a perennial, you water, thoroughly, immediately after you've finished potting, but always allowing water to drain out of the bottom of the pot without any obstruction.

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  • Many thanks again Bamboo, and yes, I'm realizing these contradicting views and corresponding advises happen in gardening not only among amateurs but even among experts. On the other hand, this happens in all professional disciplines but maybe to a lesser extent in most. There are two types of criteria one can follow: the clearest one is how sounded the arguments are for any given claim. The other one is the “authority” criteria, which is somewhat obscure, but that it is sometimes the only resource available or the easiest to work with.
    – Martin
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 15:11
  • Here in Stackexchange you can at least have some indicators of expertise and that’s why I followed your advice on my first question “What’s the fastest way to dry peat before repotting an overwatered succulent”; I didn’t wait for it to dry and just repotted it even though I had seen a couple of “professional” (?) videos that showed and clearly recommended to wait for the soil to be dry.
    – Martin
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 15:11
  • I still had questions about the plant, and mainly tried to understand the rationale behind the advises reading different sources but it was too difficult to come up with a conclusion about anything. These sources also talked about repotting and I come up with several sources recommending not to water after repotting: for example: “Wait a week to water and keep the soil on the dry side.” (The old farmer’s almanac almanac.com/plant/aloe-vera ),
    – Martin
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 15:12
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    Goodness, plenty of reading here! Whilst I am a professional horticulturalist with many years experience (the less said about the 'many' the better), I am not a succulent expert - if you found a resource on line that was expert advice about succulents, then follow that. I don't think your aloe will suffer if you don't water it for as long as they advise, specially because it appeared to be suffering from too much water in the first place.
    – Bamboo
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 16:04
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    Regarding the basics of horticultural info or 'gardening', because you're not in the UK, any resource I recommend that's a basic one will be good for the UK, but not necessarily for where you are, so I'll have to give it some thought as to what, precisely, to recommend. Here, I always recommend D. G. Hessayon's 'Expert' series because they're basic, full of useful information and relatively cheap - he does separate ones on Lawns, Roses, Shrubs, and a basic one called The Garden Expert, but some of the advice won't be valid for, say, arid and hot regions of the world.
    – Bamboo
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 16:07
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The theory behind not watering immediately after repotting is that you are inducing the roots to grow a little more vigorously to search for water and therefore 'rooting the plant in'.

I personally find the with enough care whilst transplanting, I.e. Spreading the roots, making sure there are no air pockets in the substrate, etc. You will have a decent transplant straight away. I prefer to get the plant watered and have never had a problem with it.

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  • Indeed I waited until today before watering and this morning the whole plant was lying down horizontally. I have watered it this morning and supported it vertically with a stick. I tried removing the stick and it curved but not to the point of lying flat so I guess that I should have watered it before; hope it can still recover. Let's see... Thanks for the explanation...
    – Martin
    Commented May 11, 2016 at 13:46

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