Growing aloe vera at home: choosing a soil, how to plant seeds, propagate by leaf without root or shoots, what if the flower does not take root?

Aloe vera is an interesting flower that came to us from Africa. In nature, this plant reaches enormous size and pleases the eye with beautiful flowers. At home, aloe vera well takes root, but indoor aloe cannot reach such a size as in nature. Aloe is more than 500 species of succulent plants of the Xanthorrhoea family.

Especially common on the Arabian Peninsula in Africa. Of all its many species, about 15 have medicinal value, the most famous are the aloe vera or the present, whose homeland is the Mediterranean, and the agave or aloe vera, which is cultivated from a wild African species (about what distinguishes aloe vera and agave here).

When to propagate a flower?

Aloe is best propagated in early spring. At this time, the plant begins to wake up, and all vital processes begin in it, which allow the root system to develop faster and adapt to new conditions.

Soil selection

Now almost all flower, garden or hardware stores sell specialized soil for growing any type of this flower.

If you want to independently select and make up the soil for aloe vera, then you should use coarse-grained sand, humus, expanded clay gravel, perlite and sheet soil.

All elements are taken in equal proportions. Below is a layer of drainage, then a layer of mixed soil, above is a layer of sand. Peat does not need to be added to the composition of the soil mixture for growing aloe vera.

Home breeding methods

There are several ways to propagate and plant a flower at home. Consider them.

How to plant a leaf without a root?

Propagation by cuttings is a common type of propagation, but in the case of this plant, the chance of unsuccessful attempts increases, since the fleshy leaves of aloe contain a lot of moisture, it contributes to the rapid decay of the leaf.

If you decide to propagate this flower by the method of cuttings, you will have to follow the rules and approach reproduction very responsibly. Consider how to propagate by leaf. To propagate aloe leaf, you must:

First you need to choose a healthy and large sheet, its diameter at the base should be at least 7-8 centimeters. After that, you need to cut it at a slight angle.
Next, put the sheet in a dark place for a couple of weeks, so that a protective film appears on the cut.
Then the cut must be treated with crushed coal.
Also, you need to pick up a pot or container that needs to be pre-processed, for example, you can rinse a plastic container with warm water using laundry soap.
After processing, the container must be filled with properly selected and moistened soil, not forgetting the drainage layer, since the soil should be moderately moistened.
Next, the leaf should be dug into the ground about ¼ of its entire length and wait for the first roots to appear.
During cultivation, the soil must be constantly moistened.

How to root "kids"?

Propagation by root shoots - the most effective way, but he has one minus - the development of a new plant will go on long enough.

"Children" appear in plants from an early age, so finding such processes is not a problem.

Reproduction should be carried out using the following actions:

First you need to find the right “kids." Their root system must be sufficiently developed to already exist independently.
Then, using a small sharp garden scapula, these processes should be separated from the main plant.
Before starting the separation of the appendix from the mother plant, it is necessary to moisten the soil well so that the separation passes without damaging the root system.
After separation, a small plant must be placed in a container of water in order for the root system to develop sufficiently.
After a couple of weeks, a new plant can already be transplanted into a new container, which must be prepared in advance. As a container, you can use a pot of clay or plastic, the size of the pot should be enough for the development of the root system, because aloe roots develop rapidly. The container must be filled with suitable soil and drainage. The soil must be well moistened.

How to grow from seed?

Seed propagation is the most time-consuming and long way. Seeds need to be selected high-quality, it is advisable to purchase them in the store, since it is unlikely to get large and high-quality planting material at home.

The process is performed by the following actions:

Seeds must first be soaked in a weak solution of valerian to prevent the disease of a young plant.
First you need to prepare the container and the substrate. The container must be flat and the soil moistened.
Before planting, the soil should be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The temperature of the room where the seedlings are grown should be above +22⁰FROM.
Next, you need to plant the seeds in the soil, deepening them by 1-2 centimeters. The distance between each seed should be at least 2 centimeters.
Next, the container must be covered with a film or transparent glass on top to maintain the greenhouse effect. With the gradual emergence of shoots, shelter must be removed.
Then the new plants that have appeared need to be transplanted into a new separate container with the same soil.
After a year, each plant that has already matured needs to be transplanted into a separate container.

Features of outdoor care

Knowing how a plant propagates at home, consider how to grow a flower in the open ground. This is only possible in areas with a particularly warm and favorable climate. Residents of the southern regions of Russia and Kazakhstan can grow aloe vera in their garden, as well as all regions to the south.

Growing such a flower in your garden is quite time-consuming, it requires a certain amount of effort.

External conditions should be favorable, that is, very warm.
If your soil is clay and heavy, you will have to mix it with a special substrate designed specifically for plants of this type.
Each of the plants should have its own specific space, which should be no less than a meter, since aloe vera grows very much over time.

If you grow aloe vera at home, we suggest you read here how to care for it at home.

What to do after landing?

After planting, each plant requires certain conditions and care. Aloe vera is an unpretentious plant, but anyway, for normal development and the possibility of flowering, it requires some conditions:

A plant needs a lot of light, with a lack of it, the flower begins to wither, however, direct sunlight can also harm this plant.
Aloe requires a constant stream of fresh air.
The plant needs to be watered regularly, but not often, in the warm season, it is necessary to moisten the soil 1 time per week, in the cold - a couple of times a month.
Also, you need to periodically spray the leaves in order to avoid dry air.
The temperature of water for irrigation and spraying should be about 30⁰FROM.
Periodically, it is necessary to feed the plant with special fertilizers for succulents and cacti.

If not taking root

During the cultivation of a new plant, the florist may encounter many problems, the main one being that aloe does not take root.

There may be several reasons for this:

Poor soil.
Wrong place to grow.
Negative external conditions.
Bad stuff.

This problem is not difficult to solve, the main thing is not to despair. First, make sure that you’ve taken quality material, if the stalk or seed was sick, then nothing will grow out of it.

If you are sure about the quality of the material, then you need to try to change the location of the new plant, since a lack of light or drafts are the main causes of death of the plant.

If the change of location did not help, then you should think about the quality of the soil. and change it to another. Subject to all these factors, aloe reproduction should pass without problems. If the cultivation of a new plant occurs with difficulty or does not occur at all, then you should change the method of reproduction and choose a more rational one.

Useful video

We offer you to watch a video on how to grow and propagate aloe at home:

Conclusion

You did the right thing by choosing this flower for growing, because aloe vera has healing properties, and also has virtually no special conditions for growing. You need to follow all the rules, choose more rational methods of reproductionand then you can easily grow this beautiful plant!