Aloe rescue help - chemical vandalism

Chicago, IL

Hello my fellow gardeners, I just joined with an urgent and bizarre question. I have a small potted plant garden on a shared balcony and for the 2nd time since I moved in.... after a neighbor's party (shared porch), a heap of white salt-ish crystals showed up in a potted plant that seem to adversely affect the plant. Well, the 1st time this happened a couple of months ago, it was a mint plant and it shriveled up and died within 2-3 days (I didn't realize what had happened immediately but the pile of crystals was still present when I went to check on its totally dessicated ill health). This morning, after all day/evening neighbor shenanigans, I found that it had happened again, to a big overgrown aloe plant. Although I couldn't defer going to work, by the time I got home I had a plan to flush the plant and wash it out of its container soil, which I did, and now I want to know about repotting in this bizarre emergency situation. I've read that aloe doesn't love to sit in water. Yet it seemed to be limp and perhaps dehydrated when I was working with it, so perhaps clean water is helpful in this instance?

Here is what I've done so far:
Got 3 buckets and gloves and performed back and forth rinsings and disentanglings in the bathtub:
Shook out all the loose soil/chemical vandalism that I could
Tipped the plant out upside down
Rinsed off its leaves (some were coated in the stuff), again upside down
Rinsed a lot
Gradually separated the pups, rinsing free/bucket water changes
Got down to the main mass of plants with longer roots and rinsed those free

I have the shorter rooted pups in mason jars, and the longer rooted plants in 2 buckets with clear water. There's still a bit of soil clinging, grains, but it's mainly washed free. I did that because the soil was moist when whatever happened happened, and I don't know how far down the stuff got. It was deadly to mint, so...

Given that the neighbor's flock were bbqing/basically roistering, I somewhat suspect sea salt ... but it doesn't quite melt like that, and the crystals don't exactly look like salt, so I'm not sure.

The aloe plants seem to be firming up, not so limp in their stems & leaves now. But I'm not anticipating they can just carry on like this for days.

If I've been successful in flushing the plants, what should I do next? How long can I let them sit in a mason jar full of water before they start to suffer? What if they've been parched or burnt, does that change the situation, should I let them sit for longer?

Would seaweed help them heal and/or deal with the aquatic environment?

I have some cactus soil and some fairly heavy organic potting soil. I don't think I have enough draining pots to put them all in right away. I wasn't exactly expecting this.

Any & all help / advice / aloe knowledge appreciated very much, thank you in advance.

Yankton, SD

I dont have a ton of advice on the plant but I think you really need to confront your neighbor. Show them the substance and ask if he knows what it is and that it NEVER should come in contact with your plants again

Chicago, IL

Oh, VooDooU, you bet I confronted my neighbor, and also sent pictures to my landlord and saved samples of the stuff. The whole incident is very creepy, and that it's happened twice... My landlord already spoke to the neighbor after the *1st* incident. Something is not right with that apartment.

Well, so I let the aloe plants sit overnight in water and then this morning I put them all into mason jars and cactus soil. It's a temporary fix, I know they can't live forever in drainage-free houses. But I did read that after transplanting one doesn't water for a week or so anyway, so I figure that will give me time to acquire the pots I need. Fingers crossed...

Still really curious about best ways to "detox" plants in a situation like this. Who knows, I might need the knowledge in the future...

Thumbnail by puddlesplasher
Yankton, SD

Quote from puddlesplasher :
Oh, VooDooU, you bet I confronted my neighbor, and also sent pictures to my landlord and saved samples of the stuff. The whole incident is very creepy, and that it's happened twice... My landlord already spoke to the neighbor after the *1st* incident. Something is not right with that apartment.

Well, so I let the aloe plants sit overnight in water and then this morning I put them all into mason jars and cactus soil. It's a temporary fix, I know they can't live forever in drainage-free houses. But I did read that after transplanting one doesn't water for a week or so anyway, so I figure that will give me time to acquire the pots I need. Fingers crossed...

Still really curious about best ways to "detox" plants in a situation like this. Who knows, I might need the knowledge in the future...


the whole thing is just so bizarre! I hope your plant recovers from its night out =D You might also slip a bill for the two plants under your neighbors door =P Maybe they will get the hint or if it gets worse tell the cops you keep finding unknown chemicals in your plants after these "parties".

Post a Reply to this Thread

Please or sign up to post.
BACK TO TOP