
An Aloe vera plant is one with determination. here are things to know about growing this easy succulent in pots as a houseplant and outdoors in different climates .
I would hazard a guess to say that an Aloe Vera plant is the most widely sold lush the world over. Yes, it ’ sulfur truthful, this plant has been used for 1000 ’ mho of years and is still highly favored today. It ’ s a beneficial plant with function and is in truth easy to grow in your home and/or outdoors in the garden so stay tuned for caution and growing tips .
It besides goes by many other names a well such as Aloe barbadensis, First Aid Plant, True Aloe, African Aloe, Burn Plant, and Miracle Plant. It ’ s so democratic that it much gets called a single name “ Aloe ” ( just like Beyonce, Madonna, or Prince ! ) even though there are over 400 different types of aloes .
For your reference: here ’ s an Aloe Vera 101, a round-up of all the worry guides I ’ ve done. You ’ ll find lots of helpful information on houseplant care, propagation, and planting.
How to Grow an Aloe Vera Plant
this guidebookAs you can see, Aloe vera grows in a rosette form as it ages. It does wonderfully in containers & I think it’s especially suited to terra cotta – it’s a great look.
My Aloe veras grew in pot year-round outdoors when I lived in Santa Barbara and I barely did a thing to them in terms of manage. Fleshy succulents love that moderate coastal California climate .
They besides make fine houseplants ( so finely that Aloe is included in my houseplant care book ) and are peculiarly handy to have to grow in the kitchen .
If you burn yourself that soothing fresh gel contained in the leaves is right there waiting for you. Head ’ s up because there are 2 crucial things you need to know to grow them successfully in your home which are listed under the 1st 2 care tips and summarized at the end .
Note: This is an update post. The original was written about 6 years ago when I lived in California and I ’ ve since moved to Arizona. I spent 10 years in Santa Barbara and have now lived in Tucson for 4 years .
I have a large pot of Aloe vera in my side garden which I brought as a little plant from Santa Barbara. It grows in bright tad and the leaves turn brownish/orange and get less chubby in the hot months .
then, I ’ ll be sharing things I ’ ve learned about growing Aloe vera on the coast of Southern California, the Arizona abandon, and as a houseplant. Please note that this post is written about Aloe vera growing in pots, and not in the ground .
Here I am on my back patio in Santa Barbara talking all things Aloe vera plant care:
Light
In the garden, you want your Aloe vera to get 2 or 3 hours of sunlight a day. As a rule, it can take more sun growing in coastal areas than hot inland locations .
It ’ sulfur beneficial protected from the hot good afternoon sun and mine was actually stressed from being in besides much sun ( plus it urgently needed repot ). I moved it to a spotlight on the back patio that got lots of bright light but merely a pair hours of direct sun. It did much better and was happier there along with a bigger pot and fresh territory blend .
here in the Sonoran Desert, an Aloe vera implant does best out of the hard sun. I ’ ve seen them growing in full sunday around town and they look a bunch less robust than mine growing in the brilliantly shade. Plus, the leaves are prone to brown tips due to the dry air and heat .
Indoors, Aloe vera needs as much unaccented as potential, like a south or west exposure. This is not a low unhorse plant and if it ’ s not getting the light it needs, the leaves will droop downwards .
just be sure to keep it out of a hot window ( like a west vulnerability ) because the leaves will burn. It can be near that window but not in it. And, rotate your plant every 6 months or so if it ’ s not getting light from all sides so it grows uncoiled .
More on succulents & sunlight : How much Sun Do Succulents Need ?
Watering
Aloe vera plants store water system in their chubby leaves and chummy, hempen roots. They ’ ra easily prone to root waste if the soil mix stays besides wet. In other words, they mush out !
No count where your Aloe vera is growing, you want it to about completely dry out before watering again. I water mine thoroughly and make sure all that water system drains out. You don ’ thymine want it to be sitting in any water system in a saucer or tray, specially when it ’ second growing indoors .
In the summer I water system mine every 7-14 days, depending on the weather. here in Tucson it ’ mho weekly whereas in Santa Barbara it was every 2 weeks or so .
In the winter months, it ’ ll need evening less water, possibly once every month or 2 .
Indoors, once a month will credibly do it in the summer and every month or 2 in the winter. I can ’ triiodothyronine give you a specific schedule. How often you water depends on the size of the plant and pot, the territory blend, and conditions your Aloe vera plant is growing in .
I brought the Aloe vera in this red pot with me when I moved to AZ. It produced babies & now they’re all planted together in a large pot in my side garden. You can see how much they’ve grown here.
Soil
Following hot on the heels of and related to water is dirty shuffle. It ’ sulfur very authoritative to make certain that the mix yours is planted in drains well and is aerated to avoid root decomposition. Yes, the roots of plants need oxygen and when they stay excessively moisture, they can ’ thyroxine respire .
I always use succulent & cactus mix and recommend that you use it any prison term that you ’ ra plant or repotting Aloe vera in containers .
Here are some options to buy online:
- Bonsai Jack (this 1 is very gritty; great for those prone with an overwatering tendency)
- Hoffman’s (this is more cost-effective if you have larger containers but you might have to add pumice or perlite)
- Superfly Bonsai (another fast draining mix like Bonsai Jack great for indoor succulents)
If you think the mix you ’ ra using needs the drain and aeration factors elevated, then some add pumice or perlite .
The leaves of my Aloe vera growing in Santa Barbara really greened & plumped up since it was repotted & moved it to a less sunny spot.
Temperature
Aloe vera is audacious to around 28 degrees F. My pots of Aloe vera lived outdoors year-round in Santa Barbara and do the lapp hera in Tucson. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to bring yours in before the 1st freeze.
Read more : How to Build an Igloo in 10 Steps | Winter Fun
As houseplants, median home temperatures are fine for an Aloe vera plant.
Lack of humidity in our homes can be a problem for other houseplants, but not this one. It takes the dry air in our homes equitable fine .
Feeding / Fertilizing
This plant international relations and security network ’ thyroxine busy or destitute in regards to fertilizing. Like the majority of succulents, fertilizing international relations and security network ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate truly necessary. I sprinkle a 1/4″ layer of worm castings topped with a 1/2 – 1″ level of compost on all my container plants, both indoors and out including Aloe vera .
Indoors, you could besides use a balanced houseplant fertilizer at half persuasiveness, kelp or fish emulsion once in the leap. Whatever you do, don ’ metric ton over-fertilize ( besides much or besides often ) and don ’ thymine feed in the cold, dark months. Shhhh, the plant is resting !
Propagation
Propagating is easiest done by removing and dividing the offsets or pups ( babies ) which grow off the establish of the mother plant. It ’ mho best to wait until the pups are a good size before removing them because that way the roots are a lot better formed .
Most succulents can be propagated by stem and/or leaf cuttings but not an Aloe vera. The stems and leaves are way excessively full of mousse and I ’ ve never had success propagating one this way .
Aloe vera pups being divided & planted. The pups in the lower right photo have now produced pups!
Pruning
none is very needed except to prune off the spend flower stalks and of course to remove those fleshy, fabulous leaves. You can cut a leaf in 1 or 2″ intervals if you ’ d like as it won ’ thymine damage the plant at all. I constantly remove the solid leaf because I think it looks much better. More on this downstairs .
Pests
Mine growing outdoors will occasionally get a idle infestation of orange aphids ( normally in form or early summer ) which I fair gently blast off with the garden hose .
When growing as houseplants, Aloe vera can besides be susceptible to mealybugs and scale. You can wipe the mealybugs off with a cotton dab soaked in alcohol diluted in water. Be certain to check in the crevices of the leaves because they like to hang out in there .
scale can be removed the same direction or can be scraped off with your fingernail or a dull tongue .
The beautiful flowers of an Aloe vera. (Image credit: Meredith Amadee Photography)
Flowers
The yellow flowers appear on stalks that rise up above the plant. They flower in deep winter into form and the hummingbirds love them .
Mine have flowered every year as they aged. I ’ ve never had 1 bloom when growing indoors .
Harvesting & Using the Leaves
The good stuff !
I constantly take the whole leaf off, all the way back to the base or main root. Do this with a clean, sharply knife for a blank cut. You can prune good a separate of the flick off but you ’ ll wind up with a big scab on the end of the part which remains .
In my impression, removing the solid leaf looks so much better. It takes a while for the leaves to get large and plump ( particularly when grown as a houseplant ) so you may have to wait a while before you reap the benefits .
I wrap the leaf in can hydrofoil, store it in the refrigerator, and cut as I need it. Sometimes that cool gel feels indeed good !
I bought this huge Aloe vera at the Mexican market near my house in Santa Barbara. You can see all that wonderful gel!
What to know about an Aloe vera plant
here ’ s something you need to know : the leaves of the Aloe Vera implant will turn orange ( or orange/brown ) if they get sunburned or environmentally stressed .
mine in Santa Barbara turned pale and orange because it was hard potbound, getting a moment besides much sun and couldn ’ t properly uptake water and nutrients .
here in Tucson, my Aloe vera is presently brown because of the extreme summer heat. In winter they turn the like semblance when the temps dip low. I ’ ve found that when the conditions are to their liking, they do green back up .
Aloe vera doesn ’ thymine thinker being a bit pot bounce so you don ’ t need to repot it every year. I hadn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate repotted mine in Santa Barbara for at least 3 years and it was more than “ a act potbound ”. The plant was much happier and finally greened back up after being repotted .
As this plant grows and the leaves get large and entire of mousse, it gets quite heavy. You ’ ll need a substantial basis – no small flimsy fictile pots here, please .
Aloe does best in pots which have at least 1 drain hole. You don ’ thyroxine want any water to sit in the bottom of the batch .
These Aloe vera plants grow in the ground near my here in Tucson. You can see how reddish/orange & thin the leaves are. This photo was taken in late winter after a few nights below freezing. They also look this way in summer because they’re growing in a west exposure against a wall. Environmental stress is the cause.
Quick recap: if you ’ re growing this lush indoors, equitable remember – high light, broken water. Those roots are subject to rot and need oxygen just like the leaves and stems do. Outdoors, the light and watering depend on what climate you ’ rhenium growing it in .
There are so many different species and varieties of aloes in the global and this one is decidedly the most well known. How does it feel to be so fabulously celebrated Aloe vera ? Be indisputable to get one, you ’ ll not alone love and use it besides !
Note: This post had been previously published & was updated on 7/14/2020 .
glad garden,
Read more : How to Build an Igloo in 10 Steps | Winter Fun
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