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"It can't be killed," my friend swore. "Put it in dirt, and throw some water on it."
I was never all that good with house plants and hastened quite a few along to an early demise until I moved to this one apartment building and my upstairs neighbor gave me a piece of their aloe vera. Their aloe plant was enormous, and looked like it was on the verge of ripping their window box off the edge of the kitchen window. "If it shrivels, it needs water, if it gets yellow, it needs more light. It's easy," he said. "Honey, if this took any actual effort, I'd have killed it myself." Okay, he had me convinced...
It's been about twenty years and I still have a plant growing from a piece of that first aloe vera in my collection of house plants. Other friends have given me aloe vera off-spring from their plants and I've traded baby plants of my own. At the moment, I've got three distinct and different types of aloe vera happily growing in my house.
Aloe Lens Guide
- My Constant Kitchen Companion
- Some Aloe Vera Basics
- Books about the Aloe Vera plant
- The Stoplight Guide To Growing Aloe
- Advice and Tips for Growing Aloe Vera
- Get Aloe Vera Plants on eBay
- Detachable Babies or New Sprouts
- Igo GREEN Tip of the Day
- How Can Aloe Effect Your Health?
- Aloe Vera Comments and Questions
My Constant Kitchen Companion
I've had aloe vera plants in or near my kitchen for almost 20 years now. They are hardy, they seem to do really well (almost better even) when I ignore them, and they are great first-aid for the occasional kitchen hand injury. It really has turned out to be almost as easy as just putting them in dirt and throwing water on them. They tend to do kinda okay with that, but they do really well with just a bit of care and I've even got a few that seem to be doing fantastic, but I'm not sure exactly why.I grew them for a long time without any idea of what I was doing, or why some plants thrived and others failed. I've learned to grow them by watching their colors and pinching their firmness and then adjusting light or water based on those. I knew if they got too yellow, it was too dark for them, but for some variations, it might also be too wet. Some red color seems to be okay for some plants, but too much red or really dark red and it means the plant is actually getting scorched.
Aloes are succulents, which means they are mostly made of retained water. That's why they are great for the semi-regular to utterly forgetful house plant gardener. They like a lot of light, but some varieties don't really care for full sun. I've grown them near windows with almost any exposure, as long as it was fairly-consistently light. Freezes will cause their plant cell walls to burst and kill the plant, so don't leave them outside if the temp is going to drop below freezing overnight. In most places I've lived, I've kept my aloe vera plants indoors but I have some friends who are in climates warm enough they are outside year-round.
Shown here is the aloe I got from my friend in San Jose. This is the only one I have that really likes direct sunlight/southern exposure. When I got it, it was about 1/3 of the size you see here, and the spines had dark red tips with reddish tones extending about a quarter of the way down them. As much as it did okay in a very warm and sunny climate, it grew like crazy once it was moved to my house, where it got bright but indirect light and slightly cooler temps. The spines will grow to reach towards the sun and it used to be more lopsided until I started to turn the pot regularly. A friend called it the "Cthulhu Aloe Vera" as a joke and said it looked like it was trying to grab me, and the nickname has stuck.
Some Aloe Vera Basics
plant history, cultivation, uses
- Aloe vera
- Aloe Vera can be a useful treatment for a range of ailments from inflammation and arthritis, to sunburn and bites.
- Aloe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Aloe, also written Aloë, is a genus containing about four hundred species of flowering succulent plants.
The genus is native to Africa and is common in South Africa's Cape Province and the mountains of tropical Africa, and neighbouring areas such as Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula and the islands off Africa. - Backyard Gardener - Growing Aloe Vera - March 1, 2006
- The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County, Backyard Gardener
- Aloe Vera Blog
- A blog dedicated to the healing powers of the Aloe vera L plant.
Books about the Aloe Vera plant
Aloe Vera Handbook: The Acient Egyption Medicine Plant
Amazon Price: $3.95 (as of 05/17/2008)
List Price: $3.95
Usually ships in 24 hours
Aloe Vera - Nature's Gift
Amazon Price: $34.68 (as of 05/17/2008)
List Price: $34.39
Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks
Succulents for the Contemporary Garden
Amazon Price: $19.47 (as of 05/17/2008)
List Price: $29.95
Usually ships in 24 hours
Aloe Vera: Nature's Soothing Healer
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 05/17/2008)
List Price: $9.95
Usually ships in 24 hours
The Stoplight Guide To Growing Aloe
a three-color theory of aloe plant health
I've learned most of my aloe vera growing know-how through trial and error. Fortunately aloes are very hardy plants and I've found it's often easy to fix a problem and not actually kill the plant. Just looking at the color of the plant and touching it can give you a good idea of how it's doing.GREEN - Healthy aloes are most often green, ranging from pale green to darker greens. If you pinch the leaves or spines with two fingers, they feel very firm and juicy.
YELLOW - If one of my aloe plants turns yellowish, it's often suffering from one of two problems. One is that the plant isn't getting enough light. The second is that the plant might be getting too much water. It will be up to you to decide which you think is happening. The color will shift to a yellow-green before turning really yellow and will often start to shrivel up from the tips of the spines moving in towards the main plant.
Make sure the plant is able to dry out in between waterings and try to give it more daylight. Aloes will sometimes terminate the ends of longer or larger spines when resources start to drop off. Watch for multiple spines developing creases and then dropping off the ends of the spines.
RED - Some aloes naturally have a touch of red at the tips of their spines, but if the plant starts to become reddish or red overall, it's most often a sign that the plant is getting too much sunlight. Although known as a sun plant, some aloes prefer bright but indirect sunlight.
If the tips start to shrivel up along with turning red, try and move the plant to have a little less sun. If just one single leaf/spine turns red and shrivels up, this is the plant naturally pruning itself. This is how the older leaves die off by themselves.
Advice and Tips for Growing Aloe Vera
- Guide to Growing Aloe Plants
- How to grow and care for Aloe vera plants and other medicinal house plants
- Aloe - from the Lilaceae/Aloeaceae family
- History, organic growing advice and brief medicinal uses
- Granny's Kitchen: ALOE : caring for the plant, etc.
- A dear friend in Palm Springs, CA gave me a plant; they are
delightfully easy to grow and will flourish on "neglect" rather than too much care and feeding - "leave it alone!" was Jackie's comment to me when I asked about caring for it; water it maybe once a week if the soil is very dry, if it's damp just leave it be. - Herbs Herbals - ALOE VERA - www.HerbsHerbals.com
- This perennial herb is a member of the daylily family. There are over 500 species of aloe that are growing all over the world. Aloe originally came from Africa.
- Aloe Vera database
- Plants have been grown indoors in pots in order to help remove toxins from the atmosphere. It is also unusual in that it continues to release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide in the dark, making it very suitable for growing in bedrooms.
- aloe vera | Gardening with gary
- Fantastic list of questions from people trying to grow aloe vera, with very detailed and useful answers from Gary.
Get Aloe Vera Plants on eBay
If you don't have anyplace to get aloe vera plants that is local to you, there is always the option of buying them via the Internet.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Detachable Babies or New Sprouts
how I get all my new aloe vera plants
Part of why I've kept growing aloe veras for all these years is that mine have always made new plants really readily, and it means I wind up with more than one, so I've never lost an entire type on the rare occasion when I have a plant die.My original aloe vera is very stalky with short stubby leaves. It produces little baby plants from off of the main stem, and these actually detach as fully-formed baby plants. If you stick the stem end in dirt and *don't* water it for about four to six weeks, it will most likely root itself. If you water it before it forms roots, it will rot and die.
The "Cthulhu" aloe reproduces by sending up new baby plants from the roots. They start poking up underneath the parent plant and then rapidly grow in size. (shown here, a few new plants just starting to show) When I've wanted to make more of this type, I let them grow to be about 3"-4" tall, then I cut these way down at the roots where they attach to the parent and move them to their own pots of dirt. Again, I don't water them for the first 4-6 weeks and see if they establish. This one starts so many shoots, I actually get rid of most of them. For a while, I gave them away, but now that all my friends have one, it's harder to find folks to give them to.
Igo GREEN Tip of the Day
making the world a greener place, on step at a time
How Can Aloe Effect Your Health?
- Some Notes on Aloe Vera - Quackwatch.org
- Some Notes on Aloe Vera by Beth Lulinski, R.D. Cathy Kapica, Ph.D., R.D.
Aloe, a popular houseplant, has a long history as a multipurpose folk remedy. Commonly known as Aloe vera, the plant can be separated into two basic products: gel and latex. - International Aloe Science Council IASC aloe vera
- The International Aloe Science Council is a non-profit association of aloe growers, scientists, manufacturers, finished good manufacturers and aloe marketers dedicated to serving the needs of the Aloe industry.
- Aloe (Aloe vera) - MayoClinic.com
- Mayo Clinic offers award-winning medical and health information and tools for healthy living.
- Aloe Vera
- Since the reign of Cleopatra, the cool, soothing gel from inside the leaf of the aloe vera plant has been gently applied to the skin to treat burns and minor wounds. This clear gel is also the basis of aloe vera juice, which can calm digestive complaints.
- Aloe Vera and Digestion, Irritable Bowel and Arthritis
- Aloe Vera has been recognised for centuries for its remarkable health-enhancing properties. Although known specifically for external application to the skin, Aloe Juice is now widely used to help a variety of conditions of the digestive tract.
Aloe Vera Comments and Questions
Do you keep aloe vera plants too? Let me know how yours are doing! I'm also open to questions about aloes, but understand I'm just a houseplant-tender and not a plant care professional...
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totalhealth
great lens. aloe has many uses. I can still remember when we were small we used aloe to treat small burns and minor cuts. Posted April 30, 2008 |
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Piksychick
This lens has given me inspiration to try and grow an aloe! With the fail-proof tips that you have provided I am sure to succeed. Thanks. Posted February 11, 2008 |
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Euryale
Somedays I think my aloes taught me how to take care of houseplants. I've expanded my plant repertoire beyond succulents now. Posted January 22, 2008 |
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GypsyPirate
I too am generally the harbinger of doom to house plants, but my aloe always sticks with me. And, you are right on the money about growing one in the kitchen - indispensable for small burns. What a great page. Posted January 22, 2008 |
