The Aloe vera plant has been popular for decades as a balm or salve used to treat minor burns, cuts, sunburn and other maladies. Every household should have an Aloe plant as part of their first-aid kit.
You can do your part to spread the good news about Aloe by dividing your plants and giving them away to folks who don’t have an Aloe yet. It’s very easy to do.
As an Aloe plant grows, it forms small plantlets or off-shoots around the base of the main stem. They may or may not have roots. These can be gently pulled apart from the main plant and transplanted into new pots.
In this post I’m using an old Aloe that needed to be renewed. The same process is used for making divisions of an Aloe that might not be this far gone. Here we go…
Start by getting a potting mix together. I like to use fairly coarse potting mix to which I add sand, fine gravel and other grit to help the mix drain water well. Aloe doen’t like to be in a soggy pot.
In this example, where the plant has grown too long between re-potting, the Aloe has developed a long, undesirable stem with a lot of dead leaves.
Fix this by cutting the stem an inch or so below the green active part of the plant. Peel off all of the “onion skin” until you reach the stem itself. Also, remove any dead or dying leaves. The stem has dormant root buds that will sprout to form new roots to support the newly separated plant. A dormant bud can be seen just below the pencil point. If you rub your finger over the stem, the bumps you feel are the root buds.
Then just fill a pot (be sure it has a drain hole in the bottom) with your potting mix and insert the prepared Aloe cutting into the soil. Water the new plant and that is it. You now have a new Aloe plant that will soon take hold in it’s new home. Here is An Aloe I transplanted a few weeks ago. Look how nicely the roots are growing.
You now have a plant that can be given away as a gift. Everyone loves Aloe !
To use Aloe as a treatment for an injury, cut a leaf from your plant. Slit the leaf open and apply the jelly-like juice to your injury. You’ll feel relief immediately.
It’s medicine you can grow right on your window sill!
Bob
Thanks for the great advice, just turned my giant mutant uncared for aloe into three nice medium sized pot plants! I am new to gardening and loved the step by step tutorial. Thanks Bob.
Hi Brad,
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you were able to tame your mutant aloe! Check back now and then as we will be doing more step by step posts on other gardening topics.
Bob
how much times does it take for the roots to form?
Rachel,
The roots should start to grow right away after planting, by that I mean you will see growth from the buds in about a week or so. Once they start, they grow pretty fast. In a few weeks, the roots can reach the bottom of the pot under good growing conditions.
I think of this as an interesting and fun indoor garden project.
Bob
Bob,
I have an older aloe that has deterioated this past winter, I have lost a number of the older lower leaves that help it stand up. It was given to me with two main stems that were never separated. I want to repot and see if it is possible at this point to split them. Neither can stand up because of the size and weight and lean so far over the leaves are breaking.
Because they are about 10 inces each and have long bare stems now, is it still possible to salvage it? I would be happy to send a picture it that helps.
thanks
janet
Hi Janet,
I’m sure your aloe will be fine. Send along a photo and I’ll be glad to take a look at it.
I’ve neglected my aloe. It’s in an 8″ pot and falling over. Closer inspection reveals new growth. The (4) relative newbies “stem” from (2) weighty original plants. I need to repot.
Should I a) move in it’s entirety to a 10″ pot?
b) create (5 or 6) new homes or
c) leave intact and ‘tie’ support stix as required?
Assistance appreciated in advance.
Hi Bev, The correct answer is “b”. Go ahead and separate all of the new plantlets and place them into new pots. If the original plant has an unmanageable long stem, it can be removed from the long stem and then re-potted . Follow the steps in the post and you should have all new plants that will thrive in their new homes.
Bob
Bob, I have had the same aloe for a couple of years and it will not grow! The leaves are thin and limpish and though there are some juveniles growing they are a bit sorry for themselves too. The plant is in a very large pot and the soil perhaps not the best mix. Can i confidently repot the plant(s) in smaller pots with an improved soil formula?
Fingers (though not very green ones!) crossed, Dom
Dom,
I’m not sure why your Aloe is not growing. They do need bright light and fertilizer once in a while. Go ahead and re-pot as described in this post and your plant should be fine. Keep in mind also that over-watering or under-watering can exhibit the same symptoms…weak growth, withering leaves, and others.
Best of luck to you,
Bob
Bob,
I have read so much about aloe needing light. My Grandfather is 97 and I just got negelected aloes from his stock. I will repot according to your directions. When I put them in bright light they lose their green color and looked bleached. They do fine (look green) in indirect light. Any pointers. I have killed many plants and don’t want the same to happen to these as they come from Gramps!! Thanks…Brenda
Brenda, Your aloe have a classic case of “sunburn”. That is to say your Grandfather must have been growing them in an area that has low light levels. When you moved them into direct sunlight, they were “burned” by the sun much like someone who goes out to the beach for the first time without sun screen. To avoid this happening with the remaining plants, gradually expose them to more light until they be accustom to full sunlight. If you only have a few plants you can move them in and out of the full sun. Start with 15 minutes the first day then add more time over the period of a couple of weeks or so. Or, you can move them to the sunny spot and cover them with a material known as agricultural cloth or insect cloth. This is a very light-weight fabric that will allow some sun to past through but not enough to burn the plants (don’t use plastic sheeting). You can then move the cloth off of the plants for longer and longer periods of time until it is no longer needed.
I wish you luck. This is a wonderful gift your Grandfather gave you. Now it’s your turn to care for them until you turn 97!
Bob