Aloe vera plant - all about the care

• Location
• plant substrate
• plants
• to water
• Fertilize
• To cut
• overwinter
• multiply
• Diseases
• pests

There are over 200 aloe species. Many of them are sold as Real Aloe = Aloe Vera. It is difficult for a layman to recognize the true aloe vera. There are no serious differences to many other aloe species. The plants have no or only a very short stem. This can reach a circumference of 30 cm, but not in the planter and not in our climate. The leaves are lanceolate and rejuvenate towards the top. They are arranged like a rosette on the trunk. The leaf blade can be up to 50 cm long, but remain only narrow, about 5 to 7 cm wide. Noteworthy is the gray-green color of the leaves. Sometimes they are slightly reddish. Typical of many aloe species are the teeth on the edges of the leaf blade. In the aloe vera they have a distance of 10 to 20 mm and are about 2 mm long. The leaf juice of aloe vera is yellow when dried.

Aloe Vera can only be cultivated as a room or container plant in our Central European climate. The plants look good, are robust and easy to care for. The main reason why this plant has so many fans is its ability to heal. The juice from the leaves is extremely healthy, helps with burns, coughs, smaller and larger wounds, skin problems, but is also used in cancer, diabetes and other serious diseases. The care is quite straightforward. What there is to know about this, read below.

Location

Aloe vera like it warm and sunny. They like to spend the summer in the garden, calm in the full sun, but only after a settling-in period. After the time in the house, the plants must be slowly accustomed to the sun. Two weeks should be granted to them. Even with freshly purchased plants, this deadline must be observed. Young aloe vera plants are better off in partial shade than in the bright sun. Midday sun is better to avoid, morning and evening sun are also enough. Their healing juices produce the aloe vera only after about 4 years. Then you have to go to the sun.

• Sunny and warm, with low humidity and slow acclimation to the sun after the show
• Young plants not in the blazing sun, better evening or morning sun

plant substrate

The most important thing about the plant substrate is that it is very permeable. It is also beneficial if it is a bit calcareous. Aloes do not tolerate moisture, so the soil needs to be prepared accordingly. Well suited is cactus clay . However, you can also use normal soil and make it permeable with perlite and / or coarse sand. The substrate should be low in nutrients, so do not use pre-fertilized soil!

• Permeable, nutrient-poor, slightly calcareous soil
• It is favorable to mix perlite or coarse sand

plants

Aloe can reach a stately size. They not only grow upwards, but also multiply to the sides and often hang over the edge of the pot. Quick there is an imbalance in the vessel and this tilts. Therefore, it is important to use a very stable planter or a heavy, which does not fall over so fast. In any case, a larger vent hole in the floor is important, or alternatively several smaller ones.
In the vessel first comes a drainage, so that excess water can drain well. This is the only way to prevent the substrate from getting wet for a long time. Suitable drainage are potsherds, coarser gravel, small stones or the like. In order to prevent the soil from being rinsed between the drainage, a fleece as a separating layer is favorable. Fiberglass fleece is ideal for this.
When planting it is important to ensure that the leaves are not injured, because then sap leaves. Although the wounds heal, they remain as unsightly scars.

The plant should be repotted if the vessel has become too small. This is usually the case after two to three years. At the same time the children should be separated. These can be planted separately. After separation, the old vessel can be reused. If the children stay with the mother plant, a bigger one is needed.

Since the mother plant alone often has no firm grip, it should be supported after repotting. It is best to put two or three short sticks around the plant in the ground, close to the "trunk". Water well after planting or repotting.

• Use a sturdy, heavy container and install a drainage system
• Insert a fleece between drainage and plant substrate
• Repot if vessel has become too small, possibly separate Kindel and plant separately

Tip - I have had good experiences with irrigation vessels. Two of my three aloes thrive in such a vessel, including the aloe vera. The water level can be influenced, so that drying times are possible. The plants take as much water as they need and thrive excellently. Significantly more children are formed than in the normal vessel.

to water

Aloe Vera plants get by with little water. Hardly a plant will go down because of lack of water. Most are simply drowned. Aloe store water in their thick-fleshed leaves. The larger the plant, the larger the memory. Lack of water is shown by the fact that the bottom leaves become flabby and subsequently yellow. It takes months to die. Sagging leaves fill up quickly after watering.

In summer, the aloe plants need slightly more water than in winter. The plant bale should be slightly moist. Between the watering, the earth should dry superficially well. In winter it is enough to give the plant a little water every 6 weeks.

• Little water and do not pour into the rosette !!!
• Keep slightly damp in summer and allow to dry between waterings
• In winter - watering only every 6 to 8 weeks, at very high room temperatures or underfloor heating a bit more. Finger test

Fertilize

Actually, the aloe vera does not need to be fertilized. They thrive on absolutely barren soil and can not survive in nature. If you want to fertilize, you can do it in the summer, every two to four weeks, and preferably with organic fertilizer, so that the plant sap can be used. I have never fertilized and my aloe thrive and still grow very well.

• Fertilizer not required
• Who likes to use bio fertilizer

To cut

Cutting is not necessary. Only sick, injured or dried leaves are removed. They are best turned off directly at the base, then no sap leaves. Who wants to harvest this juice targeted uses the outer, bottom leaves. They are separated with a clean and sharp knife as close to the base as possible.

• Remove only diseased, injured and dried leaves
• For Safternte - use outer, lowermost leaves

overwinter

The aloe vera plant loves warmth . Although she also copes with light night frost in her natural siting areas, this is not cheap. It is better for the health of the plant to warm it from outside temperatures of 10 ° C. From temperatures around 4 ° C, damage to the plant can occur. You can tell that the leaf blades are softening. Sometimes the plant recovers, but many leaves can only be removed.

• Temperatures between 12 and 15 ° C and a lot of light
• When hibernating in warm living room threatens pest infestation - pay attention to scale lice!

multiply

The planting itself takes over the multiplication. It forms Kindel, usually quite a lot of it. These can be separated if they are strong enough and then planted separately. Also offshoot produces the plant. They are also separated and planted. Both types of propagation work flawlessly. It is important in each case, the interface, so far had to be cut to dry one day in the air.

• Separate Kindel

Diseases

Aloe are robust, the aloe vera is no exception. What they do not tolerate is wetness. Unfortunately, many of the plants are simply poured out. With constant humidity, the roots rot and seldom is there anything left to save except maybe fresh babies. As in winter time and again pests emerge, especially scale insects, can occur fungus. Soot thymes prefer to settle for honeydew (excrements of lice). You can see the black mushroom grass on the leaves. Underneath it sticks powerfully. The coverings are easy to remove, simply by wiping, preferably with a light soap solution.

• Root rot in too much wetness - dry, usually much drier, possibly by resupply to save, then completely stop casting
• Soot thickening - on excrements of lice - fight lice, wipe mushroom turf and sticky mass

pests

In the open air, pests hardly ever appear, but again and again during wintering. Mainly scale lice, but also mealybugs spread to the plant. These are hard to discover. A sure sign of the infestation are sticky spots on the ground around the planter. These excretions of the pests are usually the first to arise. Then you have to search specifically. Scale insects can be recognized by small oval, dark spots. In the beginning they occur occasionally, later they multiply more and more. The points can be easily removed with a toothpick. Mealybugs can be recognized by white, cotton-like small formations. These are also small at first, but are also getting bigger and bigger.

Manually removing the pests is cumbersome, but those who want to harvest the crop can not use pesticides. Those who use the Aloe Vera only as a houseplant can do that. Recommended for these pests are systemic agents that are absorbed by the plant. When sucking, the poison gets into the pests and they die. The brood must be re-poisoned after a few weeks. Those who handle it must wait a long time for the poison to disappear from the plants. Alternatively, you can wipe the affected regions with an alcohol-soaked cloth. You do not get anywhere, but it's helpful.

The versatile Aloe Vera is a decorative, easy-care and very useful plant. It has few claims and provides plenty of fresh aloe juice after a few years. This can be used in diseases. I always made cough syrup for my children and was enthusiastic about the effect. Even with skin injuries this is extremely helpful and occur in children so often. Today, many swear by green smoothies, aloe vera makes them even healthier. However, you should always use only the inside of the leaves, not the thick skin and the outer layer. For me there is hardly a more versatile plant and I can only recommend without hesitation. No green thumb is needed for the care. Only with the casting quantity you have to be careful, otherwise not much is needed.