Aloe vera plant – everything you should know about aloe vera

Aloe vera also called aloe barbadensis is a house plant which bloom time is durning spring, summer and fall. It’s flower color is yellow, red, pink, or orange. Aloe vera is very easy plant to grow, it is a succulent that is a wonderful indoor plant.

Aloe vera plants are very usefull plants also. Aloe vera juice from their leaves can be used as a pain reliever from burns and scrapes when will be applied topicallty.

In this article you will be able to know how to grow aloe vera indoors as well as outdoors. You will also be able to find informations like how to harevest aloe vera or how to take care for aloe vera and much more.

How to grow aloe vera plants

Aloe vera plant can be grown indoors but also outdoors. If you live in a falt you are more likely to be growing aloe vera plants indoors however if you live in a house with a garden you can grow aloe vera plants in your garden.

Aloe vera indoors

If you want to plant your aloe vera indoors you should plant it in a terra cotta pot with well drained dirt. It would be the best choice to mix equal parts sand and potting soil or just simply buy special succulent mix.

You should find bright and sunny place for your aloe vera because if you won’t provide that to it, aloe vera will dormant and stop growing. Watering should be happening every two weeks. You should water it heavily. Soil should be completely dry till next watering. Aloe vera is a desert plant so if you gonna keep the dirt moist it will make roots to rot.

You can place your potted plant outdoors for the summer time, however don’t put them in direct sunlight right away after the winter in house.

Aloe vera outdoors

If you live in a hot climate all year long you can grow your aloe vera plants outdoors. Why only hot climate durning whole year is okay to grow aloe vera outside? Well the answer is simple. Freezing temperatures will simply leaves but whats even worse is frozen soil. Frozen soil can even kill roots and there won’t be any new sprouts growing.

When it comes to picking a spot you should look for well drained bed. It is great idea for aloe vera to be plant outdoors because you won’t have to water it exception of droughts. If droughts will happen give your aloe vera a good ammount of water and then let the soil dry out again.

How to care for aloe plants?

Aloe vera needs few things to grow and be in good condition. You should know that aloe vera needs to have:

• lighting – aloe vera should be placed in bright indirect sunlight but also artificial light will do the job. Aloe plants which are placed in low light often grow leggy,
• temperature – the best temperature for aloe plants is between 13°C and 27°C.
• fertilizing – fertilize sparingly. It shouldn’t be used more than once a month and only durning the spring and summer with houseplant formula mixed at 1/2 strength,
• repotting – when root bound repotting is needed.

Pests and diseases that can happen to aloe plant

Aloe plants are more likely to get some kind of usual indoor plant pests like for example mealybugs and scale.

Common diseases that aloe barbadensis can get are:

• root rot,
• leaf rot,
• fungal stem rot,
• soft rot.

To avoid those diseases you should avoid overwatering aloe plant.

Harvesting of aloe vera

If you want to use your aloe vera as aloe vera gel to smooth for example some kind of minor burns on your body you should remove a mature leaf from the plant and then cut it lengthwise. After you done that all you gotta do is to squeeze the aloe vera gel.

Remember not to ingest the gel. If you do that it can give you nausea and other bad symptoms.

Propagation

You can grow aloe vera from seed but the process is long and can be tricky. In fact the easiest way to propagate is to remove and repot offsets from already established plants. Propagation of aloe plants is easy because it spreads by growing offsets which are very often called pups. Pups are clones of the parent plant.

To propagate you will have to have few things prepared. Those things are:

• plastic containers for every pup,
• succulent potting mix as well as cacti mix,
• small knife to separate the offsets from the mother plant.

Aloe vera verieties

There are many varieties of aloe vera plant. Those most common are:

• blue aloe vera (aloe glauca) – it has blue hued leaves,
• partridge breasted aloe (aloe variegata) – its leaves have uneven white stripes,
• short leaf aloe (aloe brevifolia) – it has short and blue leaves which glows gold in the sun,
• lace aloe vera (aloe aristata) – this variety has white spots.

Interesting facts and tips

• aloe gel applied topically on the skin can help in reducing acne,
• aloe plant is also commonly called first aid plant, true aloe or burn aloe,
• to avoid aloe vera plant care problems you should just simply avoid overwatering and waiting till the soil is dried again before you decide on watering again,
• the gel from aloe vera leaves is good to be used topically on the skin but shouldn’t be eaten,
• aloe vera is also known as aloe barbadensis miller,
• cosmetic companies add sap from aloe vera. It can be found in shaving cream, shampoos, soaps and many more,
• aloe vera gel is also taken as a dietary supplement and can be found in commercially produced food,
• before your are going to water your potted plants make sure they dried out completly,
• if your aloe vera gets some reddish color it is a sign that it got some sunburn and it means that your aloe vera is getting too much direct sunlight,
• aloe vera is a succulent plant which comes from the family of the genus aloe,
• aloe vera is flowers while its growing season which is happening in summer,
• aloe vera plants are known as medicinal plants because are good when it comes to healing wound or smoothing the sun burn which is so common around summer time.

Conclusion

It is very impotant to remember that aloe vera plants are toxic to pets and mildly toxic to human beings. There are many aloe species which can be just right for you and your family however remember to be careful with those plants especially when you have pets.