Aloe Vera for Health, Beauty and Luck

Aloe Vera has been used by mankind for several thousand years and over the centuries there have been many references to Aloe Vera in many cultures: from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, as well as in the literature of the Indian and Chinese peoples. Several famous physicians such as Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides and Galen, the father of modern medicine, who first described how the circulation worked, all used Aloe Vera as part of their therapeutic armoury.

There are also many romantic tales about it, suggesting that the Egyptian queens Nerfertiti and Cleopatra used it as part of their regular beauty regimes. Supposedly Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. was persuaded by his mentor Aristotle to capture the Island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean for its famed Aloe supplies, needed to treat his wounded soldiers. Aloe is also mentioned in the Bible several times, for example, in St. John's Gospel, but this was in fact, Lignin Aloe, not Aloe Vera. Lignin Aloe is a tree whose scented bark was used for incense as well as an ingredient used in embalming the dead.

The true Aloe has been endowed with such marvellous properties that over the years around the world it has been given many wonderful names such as Burn Plant, Medicine Plant, Wand of Heaven and Plant of Life. The first reference to Aloe Vera in English was a translation by John Goodyew in A.D. 1655 of Dioscorides' Medical treatise De materia Medica which he wrote in AD 70-90.

Traders first brought Aloe Vera to London in 1693 and by 1843 considerable amounts were being imported to be made up into medicines. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries it remained one of the main popular prescribed and over-the-counter medicines.

There are countless uses for Aloe Vera, and investigations by veterinary professionals have shown that Aloe Vera is effective in the treatment of a large range of skin problems, joint problems and internal disorders in equines.

Many trainers and riders now give Aloe Vera to their horses as a dietary supplement, significantly enhancing their stamina and performance, and reducing competitive stress and post-event fatigue.

A few years ago, international show jumper Liz Edgar fed Aloe Vera to her horses during a flu outbreak with good results. She now regularly feeds it to balance cell counts and uses the extract for minor injuries. People can also benefit. Aloe Vera Gel is taken as a drink by jockeys to improve energy levels and many event riders swear by it.

At first you won't like cutting sections off your Aloe, but remember this is Aloe's gift to mankind.

You will gradually sense when using Aloe Vera is appropriate, and find
yourself abandoning commercial products

The gel can be used straight from the leaf. Always choose the oldest (lowest) thickest leaves. To get at the gel, split open the leaf or peel it, and gently squeeze and dab the affected area with the cooling gel. Don't squeeze the leaf too hard as this will give you the older juice and not the desired gentle sap.

Alternatively cut about 2cm (an inch) cut open and gently rub the exposed interior on the infected area, watch out for the tiny prickles

Note: as with all things, some people may be allergic to this plant. Discontinue use if a rash appears.

Aloe Vera only survives below the frost line in the USA.Those who live above the frost line have to make sure they bring in their potted Aloe Vera well before the first frosts.

See the photo for a frost-bitten Aloe Vera. The nice dark shiny green color actually shows the frostbite, the leaves are very floppy. I don't know if it is also root dead. I deliberately left this one out to test how much cold they could stand, well it appeared to survive down to freezing point, and thought I'd gotten away with it. A sharp frost definitely kills Aloe Vera but they can otherwise survive cold conditions.
This plant eventually collapsed into a slime.

Use 60% ordinary soil and 30% river sand (not salty beach sand) and 10% cactus fertilizer , exact proportions not important. Plant in the biggest clay pot you can find with perhaps a few large stones in the bottom to aid drainage. Pot should have a drainage hole, but not all mine do.

Aloe Vera will grow to fill any size pot or in other words the pot is the limiting factor. I keep mine indoors over the winter and outdoors for the rest.