Hi there, friends of the Hivegarden community, I'm back. How are you today? I hope you are doing great!
I think aloe vera is a plant that we all have at home, especially for its resistance and easy care. In addition, it has certain benefits that have become one of the medicinal allies of our grandmothers, haha.
This is a plant that could not be missing in my small garden, especially because I love succulents. Today I'm going to tell you a little about my experience taking care of it from my point of view as a novice with plants, so here we go!
Like many of my plants, this story starts with me walking the streets of my housing development until I stumbled upon this horrible scene.
They had an aloe vera plant planted in the ground in the park of the urbanization, but clearly they were not giving it even remotely the necessary care. What's more, at first glance, you could tell that people had stepped on it. It was very badly treated, and that made me feel very sad, because I had always wanted an aloe vera plant and had no way of getting one; moreover, I didn't even know how they reproduced. I thought it was a waste and a shame that they had planted this one and didn't even water it, not by a long shot. Until I discovered two very small sprouts, growing near the base of the plant.
At that moment, I didn't hesitate, and with my bare hands, I started digging in the soil. (I'm not such a delicate girl, and it's all for the plants, ok? Hahaha). I didn't care if they looked at me funny; I was only thinking about saving those two poor aloe babies until I succeeded.
This is what they looked like when I had just transplanted them.
The two sprouts were not in such good condition, as expected. Their leaves were yellowish and barely had any roots; the yellowish leaves could be due to either lack of water or too much water, but because of where they were, they were probably lacking water. Despite their deplorable state, I decided to take them to my house, as I had faith that I could make them improve, and boy, did I succeed. All this happened almost a six months ago, and since then I have been learning how to take care of them by myself.
This is what they looked like when they were in direct sunlight
At the beginning I mentioned that this is a resistant plant, and it is not a lie, because the first days, I had it for about a week in a place where it received direct sun. Come on, I thought that since it was a succulent, that was what it needed to grow. In addition to that, I also watered it a little every 3 days or a little more, because in my mind I had the idea that if you watered it too much, it would rot. But I was doing things pretty badly, and the plant was telling me so by continuing to show those yellowing leaves.
Let me tell you that almost all the plants in my garden I got simultaneously, so I was learning to care for them all at about the same time, having a different trial and error experience with each one. This one was no exception.
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Each photo is one week apart. In other words, this was their growth process in one month. Do you notice how the leaves were getting plumper each time? It looks like magic!
Cares
I believe that the most basic and necessary things to take care of a plant are only four things: sun, water, and soil. Oh, and the most important: love. With these four things, any plant can come up, especially if we learn to listen to them.
So, depending on where you live, I think you have to adjust your plant care. In my case, I live in a fairly hot place, where direct sun is not good for almost any living thing.
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Other photos where the difference is a week. As you can see, as I realized what the correct care was, my aloe vera continued to look better and better.
In my case, I have my aloe vera plants in a place where they only receive the morning sun. Since I made this change, their leaves slowly began to turn greener and greener, and then, the little white spots began to appear, which are usually present in aloe vera when the plant is still young. I think it is a very beautiful detail.
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Their little white dots, how cute.
As for watering, I started to be more frequent… Just because a succulent is hardy does not mean that we should underestimate it. Its leaves store water to adapt to dry climates, but this does not mean that we should not water them. In my case, I water them when the topsoil is dry, which translates into a splash of water daily or every other day, depending on the weather.
The easiest thing is the soil, and this is a requirement I fulfilled from the beginning. All succulents prefer well-drained soil. Well, almost any plant needs it, but succulents are more susceptible to drowning. In my case, my aloe vines have a soil with good drainage, thanks to some small logs that I mixed with the potting soil, which, besides providing better drainage, provide nutrients.
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More photos, these are from the same day
Following all this care, I noticed that the leaves not only turned a beautiful green over time, but they are also quite plump (if you can call them that). I guess that means I've done a good job with the watering as well.
As for reproduction, as I mentioned before, these plants give offshoots from the roots, which grow near the base of the plant, just as I found them as I mentioned at the beginning. I haven't found any yet, as my aloe vines are still too young, but when the time comes, I won't hesitate to share it here.
Benefits
As I told you before, aloe is also the greatest ally of our grandmothers, and that is why it is very common to have one of these plants at home.
There was a point where I forgot to keep taking pictures every week, but I still took pictures when I saw progress.
Many things are said about its benefits, from health to spiritual.
Aloe is recommended for burns or skin irritation, and in fact, its gel has often been soothing when I have been exposed to the sun for too long. Although, it requires a special preparation to get rid of the aloin (sap) inside, which has a not so pleasant smell.
Normally, I used to cut a twig that I would ask my aunt for as a gift, which I would put in a jar with water for a day. The next day, the water would have a pinkish hue, which would indicate that the aloe had already expelled this yellow sap. After that, I would uncover the aloe halfway and apply it to myself. Normally, this is a procedure I would follow to use aloe vera for skin care, because yes, that is also one of its benefits. However, I don't do that anymore; it is less work to buy aloe vera-based products, even if it is a bit more expensive, because aloe vera spoils quickly.
But you have to be careful, because aloin can cause irritation on sensitive skin, so I would not recommend its use, to be honest, because I have known people who have had side effects such as burns. Be careful.
On the spiritual side, I have heard that some people have the belief that this plant absorbs bad energies and/or attracts prosperity; they even tie a red ribbon to one of its branches for this very purpose. I don't know if this is true or not, but what I do know is that this is one of the most beautiful and useful plants to have at home. Do you know of any other benefits?
And this picture is from yesterday. It grew a lot, didn't it?
Finally, I am proud of how my aloe vera plants have managed to get their way and grow more beautiful every day. I hope I can continue to make this easier for you, which will surely bring you updates in the future when my aloe vera plants manage to give their first shoots.
Doing this post also reminded me of one I saw some time ago in this nice community, where someone showed his aloe vera that was really huge; it had a captivating beauty. I hope that mine will grow like that someday, and I hope that person's aloe vera will continue to be just as beautiful, because you can see that they are a reflection of the good care they have been given.
Without anything else to add… Take care, drink water, and don't forget to smile. Love you! See you in the next post, bye!
Credits
- English translation DeepL (sorry for any mistakes, English is my second language)
- Dividers, and banners made in Canva
- Photos used in the post were taken by me, using a Samsung Galaxy J6
Aloe vera is very easy to grow especially in hot areas. Of course, as you said, caring for it with love will help it thrive.
I used to use aloe vera on my hair a few times a month to combat hair loss and make my hair grow thicker.
Yess, it comes from warm countries, although the sun these days is too strong, even for the resilient ones, haha.
Oh right, I had forgotten that it works for hair. I also used it before, and they say it can darken hair too. However, you have to strain it before using it on your hair, because otherwise, a lot of residue is left behind even if you wash it well; and it looks like dandruff! Oh no, haha.
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Omg! Qué rápido pasó el tiempo.
🎉🎈🎂🎉🎈
¡Muchas gracias! ✨
De nada @celely
Por cierto, ¿puedo pedirle que apoye la propuesta de HiveSQL para que podamos mantener su uso gratuito para la comunidad?
https://peakd.com/proposals/329
¡Gracias! 🌹
¡Sí, el tiempo vuela!
Por cierto, realmente apreciamos su apoyo a nuestra propuesta anterior pero expiró.
Tu ayuda será realmente apreciada. ¡Gracias!
Tienes un lindo jardín, a mi también me gustan mucho las plantas
Muchas gracias! me alegra que compartas un gusto tan bonito jijiji
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