Aloe vera plants are beneficial plants that have a topical gel in their leaves. This gel can be used to treat scratches and minor burns, as well as relieve other skin conditions, including psoriasis.
These plants are easy to grow. They can be grown indoors or outdoors and require little water and maintenance. That makes aloe vera a great plant for any home or garden, even if you don’t have a green thumb.
“It’s a very easy plant to care for, even for an inexperienced gardener,” says Sandra Vultaggio, horticultural consultant at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Suffolk County, New York.
Colette Haskell, a Colorado certified gardener at Nick’s Garden Center in Aurora, CO, agrees.
“They live from neglect,” she says. “You can forget about them for a couple of weeks.”
Here are tips on how to grow your own aloe vera plant and help it thrive.
Grow your plant indoors or outdoors
Aloe vera plants can be grown indoors or outdoors during the summer months, or outdoors in warmer locations year round. Bring the plant indoors as soon as temperatures drop below 50 degrees, says Vultaggio.
While aloe can survive outdoors in warmer weather, Haskell warns of risks.
“There are insects, there are diseases. You can get sunburned or be knocked over by the wind, ”she says. “So I don’t put them outside personally.”
If you decide to take your aloe vera plant outdoors, do so gradually so that it can adapt to the differences in temperature and light.
sunlight
Aloe vera plants need plenty of sunlight to grow, but Vultaggio warns against too much direct sunlight.
“It doesn’t like the direct, all-day sun,” said Vultaggio. “It can actually get sunburned.”
When growing indoors, Haskell recommends placing the plant near a “nice, sunny window”.
You should also rotate the plant, suggests Vultaggio, especially with bright windows so that one side of the plant doesn’t get too much light.
Pots, potting soil and drainage
One of the biggest mistakes Haskell sees with aloe vera plants is putting them in too large a pot.
If you buy a plant in a plastic container and want to transfer it to a larger pot, don’t go overboard. The permanent pot should be only 2 inches taller than the plastic pot, says Haskell.
“If you buy a plant in a 6-inch plastic pot, place it in an 8-inch pot. Not bigger, ”she says. “And always use a pot with a drainage hole.”
Use succulent potting soil or a light mixture that has some sand in it so it can soak up extra moisture, says Vultaggio.
Don’t pour too much
Aloe vera plants are succulents, which means that they hold moisture. So they don’t need to be poured often.
“Definitely when pouring [lean toward] the side of the dryer, ”says Vultaggio. “Watering once every two weeks would be enough.”
Her advice: check the soil with your fingers before watering. If it’s still damp, wait and see. You want the soil to be completely dry before watering.
“I often see people who kindly kill their plant by watering too much,” says Vultaggio. “The less water, the better.”
What to look out for
If you overwater your plant, you can see the leaves wither and turn yellow, says Vultaggio.
Not sure if you are pouring enough? If your aloe plant turns gray and the ends of the leaves become dry and wrinkled, Vultaggio says this is a sign that your plant may be using more water.
If you want your plant to grow taller or top heavy, Vultaggio recommends transplanting it into a larger container so it doesn’t topple over.
If you notice the leaves are starting to droop in low light, it could be a sign that your plant is in need of more sunlight, says Haskell.
Harvesting and using aloe
To get aloe out of your plant, use a sharp knife or secateurs to cut off a ripe leaf from the plant.
Haskell says that aloe grows as a rosette and that the older leaves can be found on the underside. Once you’ve cut off a sheet, she recommends kneading it to loosen the gel inside.
“Knead [the leaf] in your hand and it starts to crack and give way, and you can feel it getting muddy inside, ”she explains.
Then you can either squeeze out the gel like toothpaste or cut the sheet lengthways and open it to see the thick gel inside.
You can apply the gel directly to your skin or squeeze it into a bowl. You can store the gel in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze it for up to a year.
Talk to your doctor before taking aloe vera gel orally. Drinking and eating too much aloe can be dangerous. It can cause kidney damage and be fatal.
Comments are closed.