Aloe vera care: Tips for growing this healing succulent
When most people think of aloe vera, they think of the soothing sunburn relief. But it is more than that. It is not only a first aid plant but is a tough succulent that will grow well indoors or out. So it is a good option for even a novice gardener as well.
It’s summer, so how about a little aloe vera in the house? Aloe vera, when dressed with some greenery, is a great home decor to add beauty to the house. In addition to being a popular home decor item, its fleshy leaves are full of gel that has long been used as a therapeutic agent. Its extensive medicinal and beauty virtues led even the ancient Egyptians to nickname it “the plant of immortality.”
MEET THE EXPERT
- ■ Ronell Renett Klopper is a South African botanist renowned for her extensive research on the genus Aloe. As the coordinator for the South African National Plant Checklist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, she curates the Asphodelaceae collections and has contributed significantly to the systematics of Aloe species in Southern Africa. Learn more about her work on Wikipedia.
- ■ Ryan McEnaney is a garden designer and the author of Field Guide to Outside Style: Design and Plant Your Perfect Outdoor Space. He offers practical tips for home gardeners, including advice on growing low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plants like aloe vera. McEnaney emphasizes the importance of selecting the right containers and soil for succulents to thrive outdoors and indoors. Learn more about his work at ryanmceneaney.com.
Aloe vera is a hardy plant that does not require much attention, which is great for someone who wants a nice plant on site and doesn't want to be bothered. Whether it’s the soothing gel or a desire for an eye-catching houseplant that’s easy to cultivate, aloe vera fits the bill every time.
Growcycle can recommend the best way to plant, water, harvest, and pot an aloe vera plant. They have all the essential tools, like a Leaf Rake, to keep this plant area tidy. High-quality gardening products help plants grow strong.
Healing Powers of Aloe Vera Plant
Aloe vera isn’t just a decorative plant, it also has the ability to provide tons of natural benefits. This do-it-all plant should be in every home since it's so good for your air and skin. Here's why Aloe vera is worthy of a place in one's daily life.
Natural Air Purifier
Aloe vera is more than just a pretty plant, It is also a beneficial plant to keep around the house. It can naturally purify the air, remove poisons, and improve respiratory air. So, it is ideal for your bedroom or anywhere you want to have the best night's sleep and fresher air around you.
Soothing Skin Relief
This plant is also getting a lot of attention now for its high anti-inflammatory activity. All in all, aloe vera gel can be applied to cure and normalize several types of skin problems. A quick dab of aloe vera gel may be a powerful treatment for sunburn, acne, and even superficial cuts. It can even help with bug bites and bee stings, too, so think of it as an all-natural first-aid product that calms.
Natural Detox for Body
Another good thing about the aloe vera plant is it can also cleanse the body. Aloe vera juice is a popular choice at many health food cafes and natural food stores due to the beverage’s apparent digestive and detoxifying properties. This is a simple way to cleanse the system naturally and thus improve overall health and well-being.
Essential Care Tips to Thrive Aloe Vera!
The following care guidelines are necessary for keeping Aloe vera healthy:
1. Light
The tropical aloe vera plant needs a lot of light. To stay healthy and resilient, it needs at least six hours indirect sunlight a day. Without enough light, aloe vera can get tall and spindly, and the stems can droop or begin to flop.
If a home is not exposed to enough natural light, it’s not the end of the world, because there is electricity! Simply make sure they are bright enough that the aloe will stay alive. But make sure to avoid direct sunlight. Even though the plant loves to bask under the sun, too much direct light can cause the leaves to burn, brown, and crisp up.
The best location for an aloe vera plant is a south- or west-facing window – it likes a great deal of sunlight so that it gets a decent amount without being scorched. It will allow the aloe vera to grow strong and its leaves to turn green, making it healthy and timely to heal us whenever we are in need.
2. Watering
Watering an aloe vera plant may seem intimidating at first, but once you know exactly what your succulent needs, it’s easy peasy! Aloe vera is a succulent, and its fat, pulpy leaves store water, a biblical metaphor (“I am poured out like water …”) that evolved to accommodate aridity in a desert. In other words, Aloe vera is not a thirsty plant.
As a general guideline in summer, water the aloe vera once every two or three weeks. The watering can even be cut back in the cooler, less finished autumn and winter weather, half finished on occasions, and not finished at others. This suggests that one must listen to what the plant wants. The soil will feel a tad moist after you water. Therefore, allow the soil to dry nearly completely before watering.
One of the frequent mistakes is overwatering aloe vera. Excess dampness causes root rot, which affects the plant adversely. Therefore, it’s better to postpone watering if there is uncertainty. Healthy and vibrant aloe vera will be maintained if these simple rules are followed.
3. Temperature
It's crucial during winter months since hot tropical is the best climate for aloe vera plants. But this makes them not be useful as outdoor grown plants in cold climate countries such as the U.K. An aloe vera plant needs to be kept at a temperature of 55 to 80 degrees F.
Aloes can also be moved into the sun and fresh air in summer. But it needs to be taken inside when it gets cold at night. The plant will enjoy a much happier life on a mantel before a roaring fire in a living room than outdoors, where it would be likely to succumb to cold that is not unlike frost.
Aloe vera typically responds well or thrives in ideal temperatures. Keeping an aloe vera plant at the right temperature is crucial to its health, and will help it last so you can reap the rewards for longer throughout the year.
4. Maintenance
Aloe vera is low-maintenance, which makes it great for busy gardeners. Here’s how to keep an aloe vera plant in good shape.
Pruning and Trimming: Cutting the ones that turn brown or sick ensures they grow more and thicker. This way, the plant will continue to appear nice, and it will also help to prevent any potential problems from spreading. A tool like a Thorn Leaf Stripper can also be used to remove sharp edges or unwanted parts.
Repotting: Aloe vera likes being repotted when rooted sideways, not deep. The plant may need to be repotted frequently, as it can outgrow its space. Keep an eye on the size of the plant and if it gets too big for the pot you have, have a larger pot or planter ready for transplanting.
Fertilizing: Fertilization is necessary for good aloe vera growth. This practice must be done in spring and once a year. A consistent liquid fertigation is required to encourage the growth and promote the healthy condition of the said plant.
Fixing Common Issues for a Healthy Aloe Vera Plant
Aloe vera can be a little fussy and can pout if it's not cared for properly. The following tips will help to correct some of these problems and help the plant to be healthy:
Red Leaves
If an aloe vera plant turns red, the most likely culprit is too much sunlight. Aloe vera will flourish in bright, indirect light; direct sun can stress the plant. Just moving the plant to a place that's bright but isn't in direct sun due to intense rays, should solve the problem and the plant should green up, which is another way of saying it's healthy.
Paling, Yellowing, or Browning Leaves
If your aloe vera leaves are going pale, yellow or brown, this is usually due to overwatering. The plant needs to dry out almost completely before rewatering. Change the watering habits, and the plant will be much healthier and show bright green leaves!
Wrinkled Leaves
If the leaves of aloe vera are crinkling and aren’t thick like they should be it may be that the plant is getting too little water. When the wide leaves of these plants begin to look a bit shriveled, it means they need a little more moisture.
To rejuvenate the aloe vera, water it feebly for a few days. This assists to get moisture to the soil without overwatering. Also, lightly mist its leaves and avoid altogether soaking the entire plant. Avoid too much watering as aloe vera does not like to be in a pool of water.
Common Pests
The aloe vera plant is relatively easy to care for, but mites, scales and mealy bugs might infest it. If you do see these insects, however, don’t fret – there are a number of things you can do to control them and keep your plants healthy.
Begin with a gently wipe the leaves down with a soft cloth to remove any visible bugs. This will dwindle thier ranks and allow them to prey on each other instead of us. If you have stubborn pests such as mealybugs or scales, insecticidal soap is also an option as it kills the critters but is gentle against aloe vera.
For instance, mites must be dealt with promptly. Remove any suspect plant parts to keep the mite from disseminating. Cutting away the infested tissue allows you to save and preserve the other parts of the aloe vera.
Varieties of Aloe Vera Plant
Aloe vera is just one type of succulent, which is a large family of plants with over 500 different species. The three most popular types are tree aloes, shrub aloes and stemless aloes. Nonetheless, despite their differences, the treatment for all types of aloe plants is nearly identical, which simplifies the selection and maintenance of aloe in a home or yard.
Aloe Vera: The Classic Choice
Aloe vera, or "true" aloe, is the most popular and well-known type. With the stout, greenish leaves fanning out from the middle, the plant’s appearance is reminiscent to that of an artichoke. Its leaves can reach 12 to 16 inches long, turning any area a little greener and brighter!
Aloe vera’s flowerstalk too is remarkable. It can reach heights of 35 inches. This minimally-cared-for, health benefitting plant is so common that you see it indoors, as well as out.
It’s the perfect plant for anyone both new to houseplants and rookie enthusiasts. Its stunning leaves and low-maintenance care help it rise above the ever-expanding list of password plants.
Aloe Aristata: A Sharp Companion
Another interesting succulent with unique appearance is Aloe aristata. It is a species of Aloe not found with white teeth on the edges of their their leaves. This fleshy succulent is stemless, only growing up to 8-12 inches tall at maturity – it is perfect for containers.
On the downside, this plant is poison and offers no medicinal value compared to Aloe vera. It is, of course, worthless as a drug or cosmetic, but its foliage is handsome and might therefore be made into pretty flower decorations.
Aloe Polyphylla: The Spiral Aloe
Aloe polyphylla has another name, “spiral aloe,” that’s quite captivating. Its the leaves are short, stocky and arranged in a spiral meaning at each stage they all ripen in the same way which provides the plant with a wonderfully geometric shape. With a growth habit like no other, Aloe polyphylla is one of those plants no design-minded garden should be without.
In return in spring and summer, owners of Aloe polyphylla will be thrilled by beautiful red to salmon pink blossoms. Lively blooms like these add more color and make spiral aloe even more attractive.
Influential Aloe Vera Facts to Follow
There are also some curious things about this plant. This information will help you tend to Aloe Vera better.
Growth and Size: Get to know the Aloe vera plant’s quick growth and mature size of 20-25 cm in leaves within a few years.
Light Lovers: Find out why bright but indirect light is ideal for Aloe vera and how to avoid common mistakes like too much direct sunlight or insufficient light.
Watering Wisdom: Learn the art of deep but infrequent watering and why it’s important to allow for the drying out of the soil in between watering to avoid overwatering.
Ideal Temperature for Aloe Vera: Work out what Aloe Vera’s perfect temperature is, how much it loves warmth and how much it despises a draft.
Keeping Aloe Vera Safe from Pets: Check out the helpful information on Aloe vera plant and why it is toxic to pets, and also learn some tips on how you can protect your pet from its danger.
Beginner’s Best Friend: Aloe Vera is perfect for plant care novices because it demands little from its owner.
FAQs
Is bromeliad an indoor plant?
Bromeliads make good indoor plants, too, as their colors are bright and their flowers are cool. They also do well with low or indirect light. With a little bit of regular watering and a touch of occasional misting, they can be grown almost anywhere.
Do bromeliads like sun or shade?
Bromeliads prefer bright, indirect light because full sun can scorch their leaves. Some can even take low light or partial shade, which is very versatile. Under canopy or filtered light is where they can maintain their full flush of colors and develop steadily.
Do bromeliads only flower once?
Yes, it does, but no, that doesn’t mean that they just keel over and die. They produce little offsets, or “pups,” as they bloom, which can be grown into new plants.
The Bottom Line
Aloe vera is such a wonderful and versatile addition to any garden or home! It thrives with minimal care. With its air-cleansing abilities, skin-healing gel, and wellness benefits, aloe vera is indeed a house saviour.
Growcycle is here to help anyone who wants to cultivate aloe vera or other plants. They offer various high-quality gardening tools and expert advice on planting, watering, and caring for healthy plants.
Disclaimer: This material is for informational purposes only and should not be relied on for legal, medical, financial, or any other form of professional advice.
About the Author
Victor Miller 
Environmental Journalist Focused on Sustainable Agriculture
Victor Miller is an environmental journalist at Growcycle, specializing in sustainable agriculture. With a passion for storytelling, he highlights the latest trends, innovations, and practices that promote ecological balance and responsible farming.