This morning, I read an article written about aloe vera, touting its value as a “natural medicine”. The article referred to the various forms of aloe vera available in the market place and it got me to thinking. I grow this plant in my garden because of its value in healing burns and scrapes. It’s so easy to grow that it should really be on a windowsill in every kitchen. At least, in my not-so-humble opinion. And since the article said nothing about growing your own fresh aloe vera, I thought I should bring it up here. There is a lot of value in the packaged product and it stores neatly in the medicine cabinet, but if you’re really interested in natural or homeopathic medicine, I suggest you keep a pot of it growing.
Aloe Vera is a succulent. That means it grows similar to a cactus. It has spines along the edges of its fat “leaves” and although they might feel rough and be a bit uncomfortable to grab, they don’t normally puncture or scratch your skin. The young plant is a pale green with white spots unless it’s growing in full sun. Then it turns a reddish brown with white spots. That doesn’t mean it has a problem. It’s simply showing its true colors. When it matures, it will have fewer white spots and will eventually send up a tall (as in several feet!) stalk and bloom for you.
I lost my aloe crop a while back when I had the house treated for termites. The chemicals used caused a lot of my foundation plantings to die to the roots but nearly all of them came back. Except the aloe. So, I called my father and asked if I could get a few starts from him. He said he’d “throw some in a pot” for me and bring them over later in the afternoon. When he got here, he handed me a 2 gallon, black plastic nursery pot about half full of white sand. He said he had been working on replacing the filter on his pool and had spilled the sand out of the old one when he moved it. He just scooped up some of that stuff and put it into the nursery pot and then stuck the aloe into it so he could keep the roots from drying out too much. Talk about a sterile potting medium! Now, the only reason I told you THAT little story is to illustrate just how easy it is to grow Aloe Vera. That was a year ago and there are still aloe plants growing in that pure white sand. I had transplanted most of larger ones into the various nooks and crannies where I like to see the plant and the smallest were just left in the sand. I spray a bit of water onto them when I think of it but otherwise, I’ve ignored that pot. The little plants are growing!
Aloe Vera puts out offshoots readily, so if there’s enough room in the pot, you will soon have baby plants popping up, even though the original is far from mature itself. Simply break off those shoots with a bit of root, if possible, and stick it into its own pot of well-drained soil. You can use a cactus potting mix or just about anything you have on hand. The secret is to make sure you let it dry out thoroughly before you water it again. Aloe Vera will not respond favorably to extra water. Treat it as you would a cactus. Ignore it, if you will. Just make very sure you water it if you happen to notice the leaves looking thinner or curling at the side edges. If you want a nice, big specimen-sized plant, grow it in a larger pot and keep the babies plucked out. A clay pot about 8 to 10 inches in diameter will let your aloe grow to a very nice size. Keep the babies removed so your specimen has plenty of room. Other than that, keep it on the dry side as mentioned above. Aloe Vera isn’t particularly fast growing, so be patient. And watch out for those spines…. they get a bit rougher on a bigger plant.
You can use the fleshy leaves at any stage of growth and I actually prefer a smaller plant for use on burns and scrapes because there’s no waste. One leaf will provide one treatment… and that’s frequently all you need. The fire is taken out of a burn quickly simply by splitting an aloe leaf to expose the gelatinous insides. If the leaf is large enough once it’s split, simply lay it on the burn, letting the jelly make good contact with the injury. There is an instant cool feeling and the burn will heal much faster than one not treated with aloe. Same with scraped knees on the kids. An application of fresh aloe gel sooths the pain and hastens the healing.
I remember laughing at my mother when she first told me about Aloe Vera. After raising two boys on a farm and using the plant to treat their various injuries, I don’t laugh any more.