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full disclosure: I AM A PLANT KILLER. in my past, i have killed air plants. lately i've been pretty good at keeping things alive, but i am not surprised when things die on my watch.
i live in zone 8, where daytime temps can reach 100+ degrees during the summer & overnight lows dip into the teens during the winter. i have been given a nice sized aloe vera plant & i know nothing about them. i've had it a couple of months now, it was outside while the weather was nice, but i brought it inside a few weeks ago when the temps started to drop.
how do i care for this? does it like to be crowded in the pot? does it like to have lots of room to grow? does it like full sun or partial? i'm not sure if this should be a year round indoor plant? or if i'm going to be lugging this thing inside/outside thru out the year?
i must be doing something right, as it has brand new 2 babies. i'm thinking about digging up the kids & sharing them with friends but i don't want to kill the adult.
I've grown 100's of aloes in the desert areas of Phoenix without any problems. They can tolerate the heat more so than freezing. If the temps get 32 or below cover them for frost protection. They do great in pots that you can move if necessary. Watch your watering habits.
Like cacti, succulents do best in dry conditions. When growing aloe vera plants, plant them in a cactus potting soil mix or a regular potting soil that has been amended with additional perlite or building sand. Also, make sure that the pot has plenty of drainage holes. Aloe vera plants cannot tolerate standing water. Water thoroughly then let them dry out before watering again. Use a moister meter ( from any garden center for $7.00) to watch when to water.
Google is your friend, here's a good site to peruse. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/hou...plant-care.htm
They are remarkably drought-tolerant - you're far more likely to kill one with overwatering. I live in a humid climate, and my large aloe vera doesn't need any additional water from about October until March - it has plenty in its leaves.
They like to be crowded in their pots.
You won't kill either the parent or the pup if you dig the pup up. I wait until the pup is about 3" tall, when it's big enough to have a sufficient store of water in its leaves. After you dig it up, lay the pup on the counter and leave it there for a few days. This will give time for any wounds you caused to callus over, which is what you want, for two reasons - 1) plant callus tissue produces roots easily and 2) the callus prevents rot. For similar reasons, you want the soil around the parent plant to be fairly dry when you dig up the pup, and you want to wait at least a week or so before you water the parent again. Plant the pup in a small pot with plenty of drainage holes. I use about half regular potting mix and half perlite or vermiculite (perlite is better, but it's also uglier, so...). Water the pup in, don't water again until the soil is pretty dry.
When it's outside, if your aloe vera starts to turn reddish, it's getting a bit more sun than it likes.
I don't bother with moving mine outside, since it is getting enough light where it is, but when I lived in a different place with less light, the magic nighttime temp was 40 degrees for moving it out in the spring, and moving it back in in the fall.
IIf you want to keep it indoors all year they do best in a southern facing window will direct sunlight all day. They will do ok in a east/morning or west/evening window.
Neglect is the best thing. In the summer they can be watered more frequently, they grow more during the summer but in winter they slow down and usually need less unless in a warm room and dry out more. Let soil dry out, could be 1-3 weeks or more depending on pot size and time of year. When you do water water thoroughly. Soil may have a hard time soaking up water when very dry so water a little bit at a time over 15-30minutes and allow water to soak in. If it rushes through too fast allow it to sit in water and draw it from up from its tray. Soil should be totally saturated when watered. Use a well drained soil. If to muddy or hard it stays wet to long and it will get root rot.
As said earlier they can tolerate cooler weather outside but not freezing. If you will be putting outside during warmer weather you will probably need to water a little more frequently. I would put it in lightly shaded area so not to get too much if any direct sun. They kind of get used to certain sun conditions inside and if out in direct all day sun outside it may be too much after being indoors.
Last edited by Izzie1213; 12-07-2017 at 06:56 AM..
i dug the babies up mid december, left them on a wet paper towel for a couple of weeks (until they started turning purple), then planted them in their own planter. the main plant is doing well & i am amazed at how quickly the flower stalk shot up!!!
While it's definitely an Aloe, I don't think it's Aloe vera. Lots of different species of Aloe. They all require more or less than same care though, so you're good on that score.
It looks to be what is known a spotted aloe, not an aloe vera as mentioned above. There are several hundred varieties of aloes, many look alike and many look worlds apart. Most require the same growing treatment.
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