Darryl

Could you please show me a photo of where this plant has been living relative to your window? It doesn’t have to be daytime, I just need to assess the lighting situation.

Darryl

Thanks for sending the photo! Ideally, the plant should be at a height where it has the widest possible view of the sky. For aloe, an hour or two of direct sun is also good.

Soil – I can see from your soil that it is too dense and probably not the right type – what soil did you use? Aloe should be potted in “cactus soil”, which is peat moss + perlite + coarse sand

When to water – given that the plant is receiving adequate light, you should water an aloe only when the soil is COMPLETELY dry, even to the point where the leaves are not as plump. Do not try to think of watering as a schedule – it should be done by observing the soil status.

How to water – your pot doesn’t appear to have drainage holes so you’ll have to SLOWLY pour in a volume of water equivalent to a quarter or a third of the total volume of soil. If you do have a drainage hole, you can simply soak the soil as evenly as possible and let the excess water drain away (but you need to be using cactus soil first).

You can rip off that dead leaf – it’s done. An aloe’s growth is fine if it spreads out – there’s not a “proper” aloe structure. Plants that are fresh from the nursery look that way because they grew in super ideal conditions which you can never match indoors. Your plant is trying the best it can.