Did you enter the giveaway for the book More Food From Small Spaces? I am pleased to announce the winner today! Congratulations to Jennifer! I hope this book helps you to have success in your garden!
My days of working outside in my vegetable garden have pretty much come to an end. I still have a few chores to do to put my garden to bed but my attention is now on my houseplants! One of the plants that does extremely well in our house is the Aloe Vera Plant. I have one plant that has really gotten big.
It’s time to transplant it and give the babies a little more room. If the baby aloes or pups are not transplanted they will eventually choke the mother plant.
I find that the Aloe plant is very easy to grow. I use a cacti/succulent potting mix to grow it in and it seems very happy. The Aloe is one plant that can go a long time without water. The soil must be allowed to completely dry out before you water it. During the winter the plant will become dormant and should need minimal watering.
My aloe plant sits near the wood stove and gets partial sun. It is not in front of a window but the room itself is south facing with large windows. I fertilize my aloe every other month.
Transplanting the aloe is very easy. Aloe Vera plants form offset pups, which will eventually become a clump of plants. These plants need to be removed to keep the mother plant healthy. It is easy to gently pull the baby plants out, they each have their own little root system.
You can plant them into their own individual pot but I usually plant a group of them in a larger pot.
Besides being a wonderful easy-to-care for houseplant, the Aloe Vera can also be used to speed up healing on minor burns, rashes and cuts. It is also great for sunburned skin. Just open up the leaves and use the gel on your burn. The gel is also a wonderful moisturizer for sensitive skin.
Do you have an Aloe Vera plant growing in your house? What’s your favorite houseplant?
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Nancy on the Home Front 