Aloe vera is a plant of the succulent variety. This plant is a great choice for beginners. This plant besides being easy to grow it also helps in cleansing the air and also has many healing properties.
The advantage of aloe vera is that you can easily propagate it, and thus you will save money.
So today we will learn about how to propagate your aloe vera plant our home.
What Is Aloe?
Aloe is a genus of succulent plants with over five hundred species. One of the most popular species is the aloe vera plant, also known as true aloe. Aloe vera is a medicinal plant sometimes used for treating sunburns with its antibacterial properties. Aloe plants grow well outside in arid climates and can grow as houseplants in colder, humid areas. Aloe plants have a circular, rosette form with leaves that grow up to three feet tall.
How to Propagate Aloe Vera
You can divide aloe vera plants at any time during the year, but you must wait until the pups are mature enough to be removed. The best way to tell if the babies are ready to be separated is to check the aloe plant roots.
To do that, carefully slide the entire plant out of the pot. Then brush away the dirt until you can see the bottoms of the pups. You’ll know they are ready to be removed because they’ll have their own roots.
Only remove the ones that have their own root system because aloe pups without roots may not be able to survive on their own.
So, if all of the offshoots are really small and you can’t see any roots, then put the plant back into the pot and give it a few more months for the pups to grow.
Aloes are very easy to propagate, from the baby plants, called offsets, that appear at their base.
- Wait until the offsets are around a fifth of the size of the parent plant
- Gently take the whole the plant out of its pot and gently tease away and separate the pups, making sure that you get some root attached to each one if there are any. If there are no roots, allow the nub at the bottom to dry out for a couple of days. Alternatively, cut away the offsets with a sharp knife
- Pot up each plant into cactus compost, or multipurpose compost with plenty of perlite added for drainage
- Water in well, letting any excess water drain away
Caring for Aloe Vera
Aloe vera are succulents, so they store water in their leaves. It is important not to overwater them – water whenever the top few centimetres of compost to dry out between watering’s. Make sure you let the water drain away fully – do not let the plant sit in water as this may cause the roots to rot. Aloes need very little water in winter.
Aloes are slow growing so repot when the plant has outgrown its pot, usually every two or three years.
Feed every couple of months from April to September with a weak plant food. Wipe the leaves occasionally, to prevent dust building up.