Growing Aloe Vera

i think what they mean by sandy soil is they like soil that drains very well. its a dessert plant and it doesnt like soil that stays moist for long.

 

Yes, sand will work, just grab a sphagnum peat moss blend that is ph balanced, add some soil, and gravel so it's looks more of a inconsistent mixture. Then just place the cutting into it. Make sure you don't water it and leave it out of direct sun if it was a house plant

 

That's a great question. Aloe is so prolific in FL and it seemed everyone had plenty of clay pots of it everwhere and even outside planted in the ground. But, I can say i never grew it then or now and outside of what Sc00Bie suggests i cant offer anything else but a well drained, mostly sandy, loamy soil. I think "our" soil would work well with some bark fines (like a cactus mix) and some play sand. Note IME adding sand to our mix has a definite tipping point where too much results in a heavy soil. I dont think you can mess it up with a light, true loam-type soil.

Kewl...

 

I use like a coot/ mofo mix as 1 part, and perlite as 1 part. I mulch and everything. They grow huge and fast.
os

 

I forgot to mention this. With light mixes be sure to put a lot of heavy rocks in the bottom of the pot, and or use a very heavy pot. Aloe gets real top heavy and likes to tip pots over.
os

 

I've never tried smarties. I only use hard pots for those. Heavy ceramic or clay ones help add the weight.
I will post a pic of why hard sided and why add weight in just a sec. You will laugh hard tree dog.
os

 

Tree here is a big, year and half old aloe

Aloe3 by Organic sinse posted Dec 21, 2016 at 10:25 PM

you can see how wide the leaves are

Aloe2 by Organic sinse posted Dec 21, 2016 at 10:25 PM

here is where the problems start, and thus heavy/ weighted pots.

Aloe5 by Organic sinse posted Dec 21, 2016 at 10:21 PM

These 2 were pups in july.

Aloe4 by Organic sinse posted Dec 21, 2016 at 10:25 PM

Note the mulch, they like it. These are in 3 gallon pots, and are ready for 7's.
About smarties, I think big plants would sag out one side pretty well. I hope the pics show what I'm trying to describe. These are all in plastic pots with lots of weight in the bottom. When I was a rookie aloe grower, that big one would tip over. Drove me crazy. Its ready for an even bigger pot. From 7g pot to 20 or something.
For whats its worth, I water mine several times a week, but its really dry in my house this time of year. I overwater the well draining light mix, to try and raise my overall humidity.
hth
os

 

I use 1/3 sand to 2/3 soil mix. I like clay or harder pots but you could use fabric pots as well. Are you starting with pups or an already developed plant? I started with three pups about a year ago. Now all my pups are having pups. The worms seem to like the sandy mix too! definitely throw a couple of them or a little VC in

 

Hey, I have 2 aloe plants, each is 4 months old and from the Home Depot. Each was approx the same size when purchased.

One is in some super light fluffy bag soil(can't recall but was a local succulent soil) with less peat, more pumice/sand and fibery coco. This one has fewer new blades, but they are considerably larger.
I have the second in the good ole notill soil. This one is a tad tricky, BUT while growing smaller blades, it has grown twice as many, and now has 5 pups available to harvest. It's just so darned easy to overwater this one.

All in all each is healthy in its own right.

I find succulents want to dry out between waterings, but also seems like they may want that to take a little while...


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i just got my first small aloe plant.. and i wanna put it in a bigger pot..
for the soil: im gonna do 40%no till mix 10% sand and %50aeration.. which Would be a better aeration? lava rock or rice hulls?

i found this quote on a website:
"try to avoid solving the issue of low nutrient levels by using compost, as it contains a lot of organic components and therefore increases the moisture level of the soil."

so after reading that i was thinking of replacing the 40% soil portion with just plain SPM with some lime and a lil basalt idk how much..where does the aloe get its nutrients from? how is the gel so beneficial from nothing in the soil? would kelp or SSTs be okay to feed the Aloe?

the info above was very helpful too thanks everyone

 

IMO sand (drainage) is more important than aeration. I use 30% sand, 20% aeration in my mix. Lava rock would be better because they do not decompose over time. The other half of the mix should be equal parts compost and SPM. Although aloes don't need lots of nutrients, they definitely grow faster with some. They love sst, kelp, and alfalfa teas. Just be careful not to overwater them if they are young pups.

 

I just planted one is a 50/50 mix of bagged soil and sand. Seems to be doing alright

 

Old thread but in my opinion you're over thinking it. Just some potting soil with good drainage is all they need, sand and perlite both work perfectly. There's plenty of nutrients in the soil for it, there is no need to add any extra. The only thing you'd have to do is eventually transplant it if the roots fill the pot. They are very simple plants to grow honestly.

 

YESSS you guys rule ! exactly the info i was looking for ! Thank you!

i have all the stuff ready to get mixed! gonna use a big plastic or hard pot and put lava rocks at the bottom like OS mentioned above for extra weight.. and 20% lava throughout the mix! and TP when the roots fill.
i think im gonna put some extra pups in dirt outside to experiment..with the same mix in partial shade..

another quote:
"It’s a natural source of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and enzymes, all of which support healthy immune function, soothe and cleanse the digestive tract, and support the circulatory system." WOAH

 

I give my aloe plants the same teas of whatever I am giving my other plants. I do this out of pure simplicity. Whatever is left over goes to the aloe plants. Otherwise just plain old tap water. I would never go thru the trouble to make a special tea for them. The extras definitely make them grow faster. Try and leave yourself some room on top, to keep adding soil as they grow, and you harvest leaves. It will give you more time between transplants.
@youyouknowme
You will be glad you put the extra weight in. The nice thing about super well draining soil is, it makes it impossible to overwater an established plant. The extra just runs off.
os

 

This is my aloe, got it from my dads about a month ago, it's growing amazingly fast! Just in normal compost, I'm going to my dads later tonight, I'll take a picture of his aloe, he's got massive leaves. I recommend not watering for the first week after transplant, as it lets the root settle into the new environment. After that, I just water whenever the soil is dry, until I get runoff through the drainage holes. This can be 1-2 times a week or sonetimes once every week and a half.
GSY

 

This was my aloe about 3 weeks ago, that tiny shoot in the middle is now the big one in the middle, and I've got a new baby shoot. The leaf with the bent end is now one of the smallest (I ripped off the broken edge)