 Hi everybody, I hope that you're doing well. If your aloe looks like this one, so you have leggy and droopy leaves, this video is for you. Today we're gonna be talking about why we get leggy and droopy growth, and how we can help our aloes. Okay, coming up. So the droopy leaves can actually be a consequence of a combination or one of the following factors. Number one, lack of sunlight. You know, I'm pretty sure that we're having this problem because of lack of sunlight. We actually have our aloe right in our bedroom, and our bedroom has a north facing window, which gets very little amount of sunlight. So this aloe actually started growing really long, and this is because it is trying to reach the sunlight. And of course, here in Berlin right now, we're not getting so much sunlight because we are approaching the winter. So it actually gets dark at about four o'clock, and the sunlight is not that intense at this time of the year. So if this is your problem, I would recommend that you get some grow light for your aloe. I'm actually planning to build a cabinet for all of my succulents so I can add some more light for them. And of course, I will put this aloe there. Number two, poor watering practices. Remember, the aloe is actually a succulent, so they retain lots of water in their leaves. And hence, we don't wanna water them too much or too often. What I always recommend with succulents is that we always let the soil dry out completely in between watering. So this is the same for your aloe. And in order to make sure that the soil has dried out, always check with your finger. So I always check the soil with my finger and with my succulents, I go all the way down just to make sure that it is completely dry and then I water. So usually, I water my aloe every two weeks or so, but always check the soil because this is also gonna depend on the environment that you have your aloe in and the region where you live. But again, always remember to let the soil dry out in between watering. Number three, you may have a fungal infection. This usually happens when we overwater our plants because the soil is very humid and our aloe cannot absorb all the water. So what I would recommend is that you check the base of your aloe and the roots. If you find that you have a fungi problem, I would recommend that you go to your local plant nursery and ask them about it. They're usually very friendly and they may know whether you need a fungus site and which one to use. Number four, cold temperatures. The best practice is to have our aloes in a room that is gonna be higher than 10 degrees Celsius. So 10 degrees Celsius is already not ideal. So make sure that the temperature around your aloe is higher than that. I think the cabinet that I'm thinking about for my succulents will also help my aloe with this. And this is because all the succulents will be protected in this cabinet with extra light and a little bit more heat. Number five, too shallow of a container. If the pot where you have your aloe in is too shallow, the plant won't be able to grow a very strong root system that will be able to hold her. If this is the case, make sure to repot your aloe to a deeper pot. And last but not least, pests. You know, we've been having some problems with thrips at the moment. And currently we're treating the problem, but they are very hard to get rid of. And when I was checking this aloe, I found some of them, not too many, but some of them. So some of the leaves that were actually more droopy, that's where I found most of the thrips. So if you have any pests, make sure to treat your plant as soon as possible. Depending on what you have, you may want to use different treatments. So for example, for the thrips, I'm actually using horticultural soap and neem oil. But if this continues to be a problem, I may have to go for something stronger. Okay, so now that we know the causes and how to help our aloe with these, I'm gonna give you a tip to give her an extra support while she gets better. This is going to help you in preventing that your aloe falls over. For this extra support, we will need some small bamboo sticks like these, a string like this one, and scissors. Okay, let's get to do it. Okay, you guys, so the first thing that we're going to do is try to carefully put our aloe leaves a little bit up in the center, so we can just support them with our hands, just like so. And then with our other hands, we're going to put the sticks all the way down and around our aloe, very carefully. Okay, so after this, we're gonna let the aloe be a little bit and just carefully set it down. And here is when we're gonna use our string. So what I'm going to do is I'm gonna go around one of the bamboo sticks and I'm gonna make a knot. And this is going to be at the bottom of the stick, like not right at the base, but more at the bottom. Then if you have leaves on the way, you will move it to the center and go around with your string. And again, go around the bamboo stick and make another knot there. So we're gonna do it like so. We're gonna try to make it as tight as possible. And if it flops again, it's okay because we're going to do another level again on top with the string. So this is just for the bottom. So you continue all the way until the last stick. Then we're going to cut and go one more time. So now a little bit more up, maybe here. And again, we're gonna put it up a little bit, all of them, so also this one. And then go around to the next one. I'm gonna put this a little bit more on the side so it has more protection. And we will make another knot here. This can be a little bit more complicated when we are making the knot and holding the leaves. But we just have to be careful not to hurt the leaves further, right? So we have to be very careful and gentle with this. So just like that. I think this one is gonna need another level. So I'm just gonna go, I'm gonna finish this one and make another one. So it has three levels of support. So there is our second level and one more. We're gonna start on this one so this ones are okay. So I'm just gonna go maybe here. But as you can see, the more levels that you put, the easier it is. I'm going a little bit faster now than the first ones. So the last piece of the string is here, so I'm just gonna cut it. And remember, this is just an extra support while we treat our plants. So this may be more sunlight, less water or some treatment for a pest. If you have any other tips to help our alos, please make sure to comment below so we can all learn together. And as always, I will see you in the next video. Okay, ciao.