Aloe vera is one of the most popular succulents sold worldwide. It not only looks beautiful but is also a household essential.
The Aloe vera plant has been used for its healing and skin care benefits for years. It can soothe sunburns, hydrate skin, and more.
About Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is a hardy succulent with thick and spiky leaves that grow in a rosette shape. It is often called the “century plant,”. It has been used in traditional medicine for centuries across cultures, from Greece and Egypt to India, Mexico, Japan, and China. Even Egyptian queens like Nefertiti and Cleopatra swore by its beauty benefits!
Now that you know a bit about this remarkable plant, let’s explore how to care for aloe vera and keep it healthy in your home.
Types Of Aloe Vera
With over 500 aloe species, these succulents fall into three main categories: tree aloes, shrub aloes, and stemless aloes. Fortunately, their care needs are similar, so once you master one, you’re set for the others. If you’re looking for the perfect aloe plant for your home or garden, here are a few standout options:
Aloe Vera: The most well-known variety, this stemless succulent has thick, greenish leaves that fan out from the center. Its leaves can grow up to 40 cm long, and its flower stalk can reach 90 cm.
Aloe Aristata: Recognized by the tiny white “teeth” along its leaf edges, this stemless succulent is better suited for ornamental purposes, as it lacks medicinal benefits and is toxic if ingested. Growing 8 to 12 inches tall, it’s an excellent choice for container gardening.
Aloe Polyphylla: Also called the spiral aloe, this plant is a visual stunner. Its short leaves grow in a mesmerizing spiral pattern, all twisting in the same direction. In spring and summer, it produces striking red to salmon-pink blooms.
Aloe Vera Plant Benefits
Aloe vera isn’t just a pretty plant; it’s one of the best natural air purifiers. It helps remove toxins from the air, making your space feel fresher and even promoting better sleep. Aloe vera juice is also known for its detoxifying properties. It helps cleanse the body from the inside out.
But its benefits don’t stop there. The soothing gel inside its leaves is famous for relieving sunburns, but it also works wonders on acne, minor cuts, scrapes, and insect stings.
How To Care For Aloe Vera
If you’re growing Aloe Vera in a container, it requires sandy soil or a well-draining cactus potting mix. If you’re growing it outdoors, plant it alongside other succulents with similar needs. You can blend it into a xeriscaped garden for a natural look or let it shine as a focal point in a stylish entryway pot. Potted Aloe is also handy for quick relief from burns and bug bites on decks and patios.
In the outdoors, mature Aloe plants may bloom in late spring or early summer, but indoor potted ones rarely flower. Even when grown in ideal conditions, blooming isn’t guaranteed, especially if the leaves are frequently harvested. Fortunately, Aloe Vera is incredibly low-maintenance, requiring minimal watering and little to no fertilization. It’s the perfect plant for beginner gardeners looking for an easy yet valuable addition to their home!
Light
Aloe vera loves bright, natural light to stay healthy and strong. Aim for up to six hours of full sun if you’re growing it outdoors, but give it some afternoon shade to prevent scorching.
Place your Aloe near a sunny window with bright, indirect light. Too much direct sun can burn its fleshy leaves, while too little light will make it grow tall and leggy, weakening the plant and causing the leaves to bend.
Soil
Aloe Vera thrives in nutrient-poor, well-draining soil in the wild, often found on sandy slopes. To replicate these conditions in a pot, use a cactus potting mix or blend regular potting soil with perlite and coarse sand for better drainage.
While Aloe prefers slightly acidic soil with a pH of around 6.0, it’s adaptable and can grow in neutral or slightly alkaline soils.
Water
Aloe Vera likes regular watering, but only when the soil is arid. If left dry for too long, its leaves will shrivel and pucker.
During winter, Aloe enters dormancy and requires little to no water as long as it is well-hydrated during the growing season. If you live in a rainy climate, consider planting it in gravel or rocky soil to improve drainage and prevent root rot.
Temperature and Humidity
Like its natural habitat in arid and tropical regions, Aloe vera thrives in warm, dry climates. To keep it happy, maintain temperatures between 55°F and 85°F, and bring it indoors if nighttime temperatures drop below 40°F.
Unlike some houseplants, Aloe doesn’t need extra humidity. A relative humidity of 40% is ideal, making it a hassle-free plant that adapts well to most indoor environments!
Fertilizer
Aloe Vera is naturally adapted to survive in poor, nutrient-deficient soil, so it doesn’t need much fertilization. However, if you want to give your potted Aloe a little boost, feeding it once a year in spring can help maintain vibrant growth.
For best results, use a liquid 10-40-10 houseplant fertilizer diluted to half strength. If your Aloe grows outdoors, you can skip fertilizing altogether, as it usually thrives just fine without it!
Propagating Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera Propagation is done by dividing the offsets or pups that grow at the mother plant’s base. While most succulents can grow from stem or leaf cuttings, Aloe vera cannot. It lacks stems, and its gel-filled leaves make leaf propagation impossible.
Common Pests And Diseases
Aloe Vera is a hardy plant, but it’s not immune to pests and diseases. Mealybugs, aloe scales, and aloe mites are the most common troublemakers.
- Mealybugs cluster at the base of the plant, leaving behind a sticky residue that invites mold. To remove them, spray your Aloe with water and wipe them away with a soft cloth.
- Aloe scale won’t usually kill the plant, but it leaves unsightly gray ridges on the leaves. A home remedy of 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of insecticidal soap, and 1 cup of isopropyl alcohol can help. Spray the affected areas every three days for two weeks.
- Aloe mites are trickier because they go unnoticed until they cause abnormal, swollen growths (galls) on the plant. The best solution is to prune the infected parts immediately to prevent them from spreading.
- Aloe can also suffer from fungal and bacterial diseases. Aloe rust appears as yellow spots that turn brown, but it’s self-limiting and usually doesn’t need treatment.
- Bacterial soft rot is deadly. There’s no cure, and you can only prevent it by not overwatering.
