Q. While I was out of the country, my aloe vera plant back home suddenly started decaying from the centre, while earlier it was growing new leaves. Three to four leaves fell off and they seemed mushy. The plant became mushy at the centre as well and someone had to manually take off all the leaves. Also, kindly advise if the roots will grow a new plant.

Please note that the plant was kept indoors. The sudden destruction of the plant has made me extremely sad.

I don`t think I have a green thumb anymore! A. Aloe vera is one of the hardy plants that can easily survive without being watered for days. It seems that your aloe vera plant was being overwatered.

Before leaving, you might have watered the plant excessively, or whoever was responsible when you left might have done it. In any case, let bygones be bygones. The good thing is that there are chances that the plant may recover from the roots, albeit minimally. If the roots are still intact, then you should remove the rotten part. New pups might start growing from the same place. You just need to be patient. Fingers crossed and, of course, no need to turn blue.

Stay green! Q. I planted some coriander seeds and sun-dried chilli seeds that I plucked myself from the chillies in a medium-sized flower pot. The seeds sprouted within two weeks.

The coriander bore leaves, but only grew about seven centimetres and the chillies just extended their roots, which I saw by digging one seed out. The coriander would not grow any longer and, eventually, both started dying, so I just gave up on them. I thought that I might have overcrowded the seeds and so the roots didn`t have space to grow. But even when I re-potted them, there was no progress. What should have I done and how do I plant seeds for vegetables in the future? A. It`s always nice to get emails from people trying to grow their own food.But I must remind you that emails should state the city from where the sender is located, as it helps in assessing the probable precipitation, temperature and likely sunlight exposure for the growing plants.

First, let`s begin with the coriander.

I am assuming that you have used the seeds purchased from the grocery store, which are usually used for cooking. Such seeds tend to provide compromised results. The seeds may sprout and the plant may produce a couple of leaves or so, but they do not grow all the way throughout the plant life cycle. On the other hand, the coriander seeds available at different seed stores are of the hybrid variety. These seeds produce much better results and the seedlings are comparatively much stronger. I would suggest purchasing the corianderseeds from the seed store next time.

This little bit of investment is far more rewarding than the time lost on seeds from the grocery store.

As far as chillies or peppers are concerned, there can be multiple reasons for the slow or abnormal growth of seedlings. These can vary from temperature at the time of sowing, dryness and quality of soil, presence of stones within the soil and, most importantly, the quality of seeds. I will again suggest that you opt for the treated chilli seeds from the seed store, which would be of way better quality than their counterpart. Keep us in the loop and happy gardening! Q. Is it possible to grow mushrooms indoors in a store room? I live near Hyderabad.

A. Yes, it is that easy! If the requiredenvironment is provided, including the desired room temperature and humidity, one can easily grow mushrooms at home even in empty closets.

Q. I read in your articles that the hollyhock plant can grow to a height of more than six to seven feet. Do these plants need support while growing, such as the moss stick for the pothos plant? A. The flower-laden plant of hollyhocks, which has a soothing impact on onlookers, requires support and staking, especially in windy areas, due to its height.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel `DocTree Gardening` promoting organic kitchen gardening