This thread is pretty old and some of the links are broken. Lets leave your new thread open so we get current information.
Any particular form of aloe vera, I mean of course I'm sure getting the excretions of an actual aloe vera would be more beneficial but I'm asking if i go to the store can I just buy some regular ol' aloe vera in the bottle dumb question i know i just want to get it right, I really like LD's seedling foilar feed with fulvic acid, aloe and im gonna be supplementing powder kelp meal instead of the kelp extract actually i do no particularly remember the last ingredient right now but i am a little toasted :] but regardless thanks for the input Happy growing Sip+Cup=destruction GK
I use Lily of the Desert brand, though any aloe brand should work. Just watch out for what kind of preservative they use; you want the one with citric acid.
I have a bunch of "Soap Aloe" growing around my property.. "Aloe maculata (synonym Aloe saponaria; commonly known as the Soap Aloe or Zebra Aloe) is a Southern African species of aloe." What can I do with them? Can I use these in a similar fashion to aloe vera or no?
It is a true aloe vera variety so go for it... There are over 500 varieties of aloe vera around the world...
Haha! I was just talking today about some things I learned in this post years ago. Particularly SAR. Still a great thread!
True dat 3Deez! We were talking about @SkunkPatronus a while back and how much she is missed. She did a drive by last May but never posted. Wish she would drop in and say hello. Cheers!
Old post I know but just for the record that is incorrect. There are 500 species of Aloe, only one of them is Aloe Vera AKA Aloe Barbadensis Mill. Aloe - Wikipedia
I have an aloe vera plant but its still quite immature, could one use bottled aloe juice? If yes - what should I look out for make sure it contains/doesn't contain? Thanks.
IDK about anything but fresh, but the answer should be somewhere in this thread. I KNOW its been discussed, cause I remember different brands being tossed around. What I do now, is just buy a leaf in the produce section of the grocery store. Ethnic grocerys are a good place to look. The leaves are huge, ~2' long and cost ~$2. Pretty much just use them for cloning now, so 2 or 3 covers my needs and no worries about storage. When done, the excess gets cut into chunks and fed to the worms. I'm just lazy. Wet
@Chunk mentioned back on the first page that he was using aloe juice from Trader Joe's. I'm not sure if he still does. IIRC, the only issue I've ever heard of with using bottled aloe is addition of sodium benzoate and/or citric acid as preservatives to stop the growth microorganisms. I really can't say for certain if it is even considered to be an actual issue. I've read that a chemical reaction occurs somewhere in the mix that ends up potentially producing a carcinogen....But if I remember the conversation correctly, I think that it would have to be ingested in high amounts on a daily basis to reach dangerous levels over time. Isn't that the case with just about everything these days though? Hopefully someone with a better knowledge base can speak on it better.
Aloe and Comfrey and Nettles 3 essential plants for any grower I could throw in Honey too but thats going on my toast good luck
@3Deez , I've been buying and using the Fruit of the Earth brand of Aloe Vera Juice from Walmart for $6.44 a gallon. The label says it contains 1/10 of 1% sodium benzoate as a preservative and TBH, I don't get heartburn over it. It's been working out great for me and I've even used it to make a cloning gel. I soaked some kelp meal in it added a little bit of FulPower and mixed in some cellulose gum to make a gel.
Good to know! That's the same brand we have in our local Walmart also. This was the product that was actually being discussed at the time for the preservatives. I've used it as a soil drench with kelp paste also but never combined them for cloning. How long do you leave your cuts in the solution?
I soak the cuts in aloe/fa/kelp liquid first and then apply the homemade gel to the cuts before putting in the rooting media. It's worked well on rockwool cubes. rapid rooters and also just sticking the cuts directly into soil.
Good deal! I like them clear cups! Are you using the cloning gel that Coot posted? It's funny, I've always applied all this knowledge towards propagation of cannabis while completely overlooking my veggies for the same techniques, lol. I've been using aloe on everything in some fashion. Tomatoes in particular really show a good response!
Did an experiment with the ultra minimalist approach after reading the cloning thread. Namely, taking a trimmed cut, sticking it into the meat of a leaf, then directly into depleted soil. Was giving the host plants 'haircuts' and usually just toss the trimmings. Used the 32oz (?), large cottage cheese containers rather than the party cups because they were handy and allready drilled for drainage. Trimmed the foilage on the plant, made the cut and stuck it into the leaf for a minute or so while I made a hole with a chopstick as a dibble. Stuck the cut in the hole, firmed the soil around it, then under the lights. Did 8 cuts and 6 rooted quite well. Didn't need any clones right then, so, not much attention was given and the 6 of 8 really surprised me. Gifted the clones to friends, so pretty much a win - win for everyone. I was only expecting a couple to make it. Have pretty much just used RW and Clonex gel and solution for over 20 years, but no longer. About 95%+ cheaper with as of the same success. Another win - win. Might get a gallon at Wally world this spring for the tomato plants like 3Deez, we'll see. Wet