How to Grow an Aloe Vera Plant at Home?
If you’ve followed our content on the properties and uses of aloe vera, you’ll have noticed that there’s a wide variety of applications. If you’re looking for ease of use, the simplest option is to grow your own aloe vera at home or buy the pure product.
Aloe vera, scientifically known as Aloe Barbadensis Miller, belongs to the Liliaceae family. It is an evergreen plant. It is easy to care for and, although native to warm climates, can survive low temperatures if properly cared for. At MixMindSet, we offer some tips to help you get the most out of your aloe vera plant.
What do you need to plant aloe vera?
To begin your adventure as an aloe vera grower, all you need is:
- A clay pot. The larger, the better, as the aloe vera will be able to grow without difficulty, and we won’t need to repot it every so often.
- A sack of dirt
- Gravel
- Aloe vera shoots
How to plant aloe vera?
Place a layer of gravel about two fingers deep in the clay pot to improve drainage. Add a little soil and place the aloe vera pup or offshoot you’ve taken from another aloe plant.
Cover with more soil and add organic fertilizer. After two weeks, you can begin watering the plant, but remember to do so moderately.
What care does aloe vera need?
- It’s a plant native to warm climates, accustomed to temperatures between 17 and 27 degrees Celsius. If you live in an area with very cold winters or frosts, it’s advisable to keep the plant indoors during the coldest months.
- Water it regularly but not excessively. Remember that, as we’ve already mentioned, it’s native to warm climates, but it’s accustomed to humidity.
- Remove any offshoots that grow around the base of the aloe vera plant. You can plant these in other pots to grow new aloe vera. Removing them is recommended so the aloe vera can grow stronger, as the nutrients will then be directed exclusively to it.
To remove the pups, expose a little of the mother plant’s root and, using a clean knife, cut off any pups that have grown. Plant them in a new pot as we showed you before.
- To use the juice from the aloe vera leaves, you’ll need to wait two to three years, until the plant is mature and the leaves are a considerable size. Cutting them before then isn’t recommended, as it can hinder the plant’s growth. Furthermore, the aloe gel won’t contain all its nutrients, so the effects on your skin or body won’t be what you’d expect.
With all these tips, you can now start growing your own aloe vera plants.
