How to grow & care for Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is a striking succulent plant, with medicinal properties, that can be grown in your garden or indoors as a house plant. The gel-like sap inside the leaves is said to help soothe burnt skin, reduce skin irritations and calm insect bites.
Aloe Vera plants have green or grey/green fleshy, upright leaves with serrated edges - they can also send up colourful flower spikes once a year.
Plant Aloe Vera amongst other succulents and cacti for an attractive drought tolerant display or use them as feature plants in pots or containers.
Top 4 steps to growing Aloe Vera
- Choose a full sun position in your garden or grow in pots.
- Aloe Vera can be grown as an indoor plant in a bright spot with plenty of direct sunlight.
- Do NOT overwater, Aloe Vera prefers to dry out between waterings.
- If growing in a pot or container use free draining Cacti and Succulent potting mix.
Shopping List
- Aloe Vera potted plant or cutting
- Scotts Osmocote Controlled Release Fertiliser for Cacti & Succulent
- If growing in pots, Scotts Osmocote Cacti & Succulent Potting Mix
- Garden trowel
Prepare & Plant
Choose a full sun spot, with a free draining soil to plant your Aloe Vera into. Dig your planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the original pot of the Aloe Vera plant. Mix a small amount of Scotts Osmocote Controlled Release Fertiliser for Cacti & Succulent through the soil at the bottom of the hole before planting.
Gently tease out any tangled roots as you remove the aloe vera from the original pot and plant it into the prepared hole. Backfill around the root ball, tamping down the soil as you go. Water your new Aloe Vera in well.
Apply Scotts Osmocote Controlled Release Fertiliser for Cacti & Succulent at the recommended rate around each aloe vera plant every 6 months.
Growing Aloe Vera from cuttings
Mature Aloe Vera plants will produce small off-shoots or “pups” at the base of the main plant. These can easily be removed by gently breaking them off, with a section of new stem at the base of each pup.
Plant the Aloe Vera pups into a pot filled with Scotts Osmocote Cacti & Succulent Potting Mix or directly into a full sun, well-drained spot in your garden.
Planting in pots
Aloe Vera can successfully be grown in pots with good drainage. Fill the pot with Scotts Osmocote Cacti & Succulent Potting Mix and plant your Aloe Vera into this. Position the potted Aloe Vera in a spot that gets full sun, although they will tolerate some afternoon shade. Fertilise potted aloe veras every 6 months with Scotts Osmocote Controlled Release Fertiliser for Cacti & Succulent.
Harvesting Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera leaves can be harvested as you need them. Simply remove an outer leaf with a sharp knife or secateurs and apply the gel-like sap to your skin or burns. Always leave several central leaves on each plant, so the Aloe Vera can continue growing.
Pests & Diseases
Pests and diseases don’t commonly affect Aloe vera plants. Sometimes indoor Aloe Veras may be attacked by aphids or mealy bugs - if this happens use Defender™ Pyrethrum Insect Spray to control these pests.
