How often to water aloe vera

The interval

Aloe vera is the plant on this list that most wants to be forgotten. Water it about every 14 days in the growing season and about every 35 days in winter, and only once the compost is dry all the way through. Growing season means the warm, bright months from spring to early autumn, roughly March to September in the northern hemisphere and September to March in the southern. Winter is the cold, short-day part of your own year, and the Royal Horticultural Society's advice is to water moderately in growth and very sparingly when dormant in winter.

The surest test is the weight of the pot. Soak it once, lift it, and remember how heavy it feels. A finger only tells you about the top few centimetres, while an aloe's roots sit deeper and stay damp long after the surface looks dry, so go by weight, or push a wooden skewer to the bottom and water only when it comes out clean and dry.

Soak and dry means exactly that. Pour slowly over the compost until water streams from the drainage holes, let it drain completely and put the pot back. Do not give a little every few days. A small drink wets the top and leaves the roots at the bottom neither watered nor dry, which is a poor way to treat a succulent.

An overwatered aloe goes soft. The base of the rosette turns mushy, and the RHS names overwatering as the commonest trouble with aloe vera, leading to root rot. A thirsty aloe tells you more quietly. The leaves wrinkle and thin as the plant draws down the water stored in them, and a long drought can curl them. Wrinkled leaves in dry compost need a soak. Wrinkled leaves in wet compost mean the roots have rotted and cannot take water up.

The leaves are the reservoir and the rosette is the weak point. Water the compost, not the plant, and do not mist it, because the RHS advises against misting as it raises the risk of rot. In winter keep the pot in the brightest place you have, since a pot in a dim room stays wet far longer than the 35 days suggest.

Related guides

How to tell whether a plant actually needs water

The finger, the weight, the leaf and the pot. Four ways to read a plant's thirst, and what overwatering actually is.

Rescuing an overwatered plant

How to tell overwatering from underwatering, how much root damage is recoverable, and the exact rescue steps once compost has stayed wet too long.

Watering through a southern winter

Winter in the southern hemisphere runs June to August, and houseplants drink far less then. How to read the soil, and why overwatering is the bigger risk.