Learn all about aloe vera plant care—from how to care for aloe vera to how to grow this succulent both outdoors and indoors in your home. Aloe vera is so rewarding! The juice from their leaves can even be used to relieve pain from scrapes and burns. See our Aloe Vera Plant Guide. Show
About Aloe VeraAloe vera is a succulent plant species of the genus Aloe. The plant is stemless or very short-stemmed with thick, greenish, fleshy leaves that fan out from the plant’s central stem. The margin of the leaf is serrated with small teeth. Before you buy an aloe, note that you’ll need a location that offers bright, indirect sunlight (or artificial sunlight). Direct sunlight can dry out the plant too much and turn its fleshy leaves yellow, so you may need to water more often if your aloe lives in an especially sunny spot. Keep the aloe vera plant in a pot near a kitchen window for periodic use. WARNING: The gel from aloe vera leaves can be used topically, but should NOT be eaten by people or pets. It can cause unpleasant symptoms such as nausea or indigestion and may even be toxic in larger quantities. Planting Before Planting Aloe Vera
How to Plant (or Repot) an Aloe Vera PlantIf your aloe plant has grown leggy, has gotten too large, or simply needs an upgrade, it’s time to repot it. Here’s how:
Growing How to Care for an Aloe Vera Plant
Watering Aloe VeraWatering is the most difficult part of keeping aloe vera healthy, but it’s certainly not rocket science! The aloe is a succulent plant that’s accustomed to arid environments, but its thick leaves still need sufficient water nonetheless.
Removing & Replanting Aloe Vera Offsets (Pups)Mature aloe vera plants often produce offsets—also known as plantlets, pups, or “babies”—that can be removed to produce an entirely new plant (a clone of the mother plant, technically).
How to Get Your Aloe Vera to FlowerMature aloe vera plants occasionally produce a tall flower spike—called an inflorescence—from which dozens of tubular yellow or red blossoms appear. This certainly adds another level of interest to the already lovely aloe! Unfortunately, a bloom is rarely achievable with aloes that are kept as houseplants, since the plant requires nearly ideal conditions to produce flowers: lots of light, sufficient water, and the right temperature range. Due to these requirements (mainly lighting), aloe flowers are usually only seen on plants grown outdoors year-round in warm climates. To give your aloe the best shot at flowering:
Recommended Varieties Especially attractive Aloe include:
Harvesting Aloe Vera GelTo make use of the aloe vera plant’s soothing properties, remove a mature leaf from the plant and cut it lengthwise. Squeeze the gel out of the leaf and apply it to your burn, or simply lay the opened leaf gel-side–down on top of the affected area. Learn more about aloe vera’s healing properties. Do not ingest the gel, as it can cause nausea and other unpleasant symptoms. Wit and Wisdom
Pests/Diseases Aloe vera plants are most susceptible to the usual indoor plant pests, such as mealybugs and scale. Common diseases include:
Avoid overwatering to keep these conditions from developing or worsening. Houseplants Aloe Vera: A Self-Regenerating First-Aid KitHow to Get Rid of a Cold SoreThe Benefits of Homemade Tea for Health and HomePoison Oak: Identification and TreatmentGrowing CliviaTop Succulent Plants for the HomeGet Almanac’s Daily UpdatesFree Email NewsletterEmail Address BONUS: You’ll also receive our free Beginner Gardening Guide! ADVERTISEMENT CommentsAdd a Comment steven jenkins (not verified) 1 month 1 week ago Traditional herbal medicines are based on the use of natural remedies Deborah Biso (not verified) 3 days 4 hours ago In reply to Traditional herbal medicines… by steven jenkins (not verified) How 2 get rid of virus Jamie (not verified) 2 months 1 week ago Great post! Anyone interested in improving their oral health should definitely look into prodentim. Its a natural candy supplement that contains healthy bacteria that most people are missing out on from things like bad diet, smoking, not brushing enough etc. Heres a great review: www.healyourteethandgums.com Thanks! Wayne (not verified) 2 months 2 weeks ago I have to call foul about not consuming aloe vera, In Central and South America the aloe plant is used to make medicinal drinks for all types of aliments. They simple use a serrated edge knife to scrape the inner core out of the plant and ten mix it into a prepared liquid with other plants the liquids are hot or cold. there are even commercial drinks in these markets that have pieces of raw aloe in them. One of them that I remember is called "Salviloe" which is taken from the name "sabila" which is Spanish for aloe vera just for and example. There are numerous brands. All of them sell well and are highly used for anything like simple thirst to feeling bad in the stomach from excessive food or drink. Plus I am living testament that drinking aloe is safe I have done this for more than 10 years. However I do understand that the LEGAL department is probably envolved in the editing of these articles and requires that there is a statement that will keep any one from claiming you told me I could drink it and looked what happened. So have fun make well informed decisions and be safe. |