Aloe vera: many useful tips for growing this beautiful plant with a thousand uses

Aloe vera is one of the best known plants in the world and from whose pulp and juice, since ancient times, remedies have been obtained to treat minor burns, insect bites and burns due to sun exposure. Yet, with the aloe plant you can also prepare cosmetic products for the skin and hair and there are also recipes for drinks that are good for one's health.

If you have any plants at home, from time to time you can take the leaves (which are removed by gently detaching them from the base, without breaking or cutting them) and use them directly on skin burnt by the sun, or as a natural moisturizer. They are plants typical of arid and hot climates, which therefore do not do well in the winter cold, but require little maintenance and do not grow too quickly, which makes them suitable for growing at home, with the due care.

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Exposure: choose a bright spot in the house, where the plant can enjoy many hours of light. However, if it is directly exposed to the sun for too many hours, especially in hot periods of the year, the leaves could turn yellow.
Soil: the soil in which they grow must be very dry and well-draining, since they are plants that do not tolerate water stagnation in any way. We therefore recommend a mix for cacti, which you can also prepare by mixing universal soil with rather coarse-grained sand and a little perlite or pumice.
Irrigation: they should be irrigated only when the soil is completely dry, therefore very rarely in winter and only a little more frequently in summer, depending on the temperatures. However, when watering, the soil must be completely wet, with the water flowing freely from the bottom. Best to do this in a shower or in a basin, but without leaving the plant to soak in the water.

• To ensure better growing conditions, choose terracotta pots, which allow the earth to breathe better. As for the size, the pot must be large and deep enough to comfortably contain all the root ball. You can also stick rods or canes into the ground in order to help the foliage, when it grows, not to become too unbalanced, causing the pot to overturn.
• They do not need to be fertilized, but if you want to, just take care of them once in spring with a fertilizer to be diluted in water and is very rich in phosphorus.
• If you want to propagate them, you just have to take the small plants that grow at the base, separate them with a sharp and well-sterilized knife, and put them in new pots with the cactus soil.

Have you grown aloe plants at home?