Hello Vera

If you were looking for an ideal partner aloe vera is ‘the one’.  She’s full of goodness, low maintenance, adaptable, hardy, and easy on the eye.  A beautician and pharmacist by vocation, aloe holds anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and antibacterial pain relief powers, and is an elixir of eternal youth.  Her curvaceous green leaves contain an effective treatment for almost everything from haemorrhoids to dandruff.  She is an antiseptic, a moisturiser, skin healer, hair conditioner,  sunburn coolant, and even fights dental plaque and gum inflammation.  In the event of a zombie apocalypse you could use a leaf as a sword with which to defend yourself, or better yet, an offering to the encroaching un-dead for relief from their pustules.  As I write, there are clever people in white coats researching the efficacy of aloe vera, not only as a weight loss aid, but a treatment for ulcers, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel disease, and diabetes.  Not all heroes wear capes, but if you can get one around an aloe vera plant pot, by all means, do.

Getting familiar

Hailing from Africa and Arabia, aloe is a shrubby perennial succulent belonging to the Asphodelaceae family.  Mature plants produce yellow or red flowered spikes named ‘inflorescence’.  In existence for millennia, aloe vera was recognised in antiquity for her medicinal and beautifying properties, and championed by soldiers of Alexander the Great, sailors of Christopher Columbus, and the spotless skin of Cleopatra.  Ancient Egyptians named her ‘the plant of immortality’.  

The biology bit

Within aloe veras fat green leaf is a fleshy gel and translucent yellow sap, together containing a whopping seventy-five active components.  The gel part is packed with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, sugars, and amino acids, and the sap, or latex, comprises anthraquinones and glycosides.  Antiseptic agents involved in all this goodness inhibit virus, bacteria, and fungi, making it an all-purpose application with which to treat psoriasis, eczema, bruises, boils, cold sores, burns, and dermatitis.  Not only that, aloe is proven to reduce skin healing time and scarring, and provides a cooling emollient for sunburn. 

‘Fibroblast‘ sounds like a treatment for constipation, but is actually the name given to our collagen-producing skin cells.  Aloe stimulates the growth of these cells, which not only heals wounds faster but boosts the elastin fibres of the skin to smooth out wrinkles.  Teamed with zinc to tighten pores, amino acids which soften and moisturise, and antibacterial properties to combat acne, aloe vera is an effective, completely natural, and wonderfully cost-effective, skincare regime.

The disclaimer..

Many people eat aloe for its health benefits.  It is a little bitter to taste so throwing it into a smoothie with something more appetising is a good idea.  However, freshly cut aloe needs to be prepared properly to be edible, otherwise the laxative properties of anthraquinones contained within the sap can cause cramps and diarrhoea.  This preparation simply entails leaving the leaf in water for twenty minutes allowing the latex sap to escape.  If you’re taking medication first ask your doctor before including aloe in your diet, to be sure they won’t react, and if using a topical steroid skin cream, aloes skin absorption talents will increase the creams potency so it’s best to use either one or the other, not both.  It is possible to be allergic to aloe, particularly if you already have allergies to either latex or tulips (which must really hamper a romantic break in Amsterdam), so it is best to test a patch of skin before slathering your aloe all over.

Care for your Aloe Vera

Give your Vera light, warmth, and a good watering when her soil has dried out.

Care in more detail

-She flourishes in a bright, warm place.  If she doesn’t get enough light she’ll grow leggy and off-colour. 

-Brown dry tips are a sign of under-watering, but she recovers well once a regular watering cycle is regained.  Over-watering tends to make her ends shrivel and pucker.  The best way to tell when to give her a soaking is if her soil is dry by at least two inches down. 

-If constantly sat in moisture her roots will rot, so if her pot is sat in a tray, empty any excess water after she’s had a ten-minute soak in it. 

-Keeping pebbles or shells on the soil will help keep in moisture and stop the topsoil from baking in hot weather. 

-If living somewhere hot, water in the evening so the sun doesn’t boil her roots.

-Aloe doesn’t require fertiliser, but if she’s looking sad dilute a dose to half-strength to apply.  If you’d really like to give her a treat, she prefers rainwater.

-If kept indoors or constantly harvested it is rare that she will bloom, but kept in her ideal conditions, with sufficient sunlight, water, and warmth, she will produce flower spikes.

-Aloe is happy growing in the ground but does just as well in a pot which gives enough space to spread her roots out.  When her tips or colour isn’t how they should be, and watering isn’t the culprit, it’s time for a bigger pot.

-Using a clean, sharp knife, cut off any dry brown ends or sallow looking outer leaves to help keep her healthy. 

Let’s get potted

Terracotta pots are recommended as they allow the soil to dry out between watering, but plastic or ceramic pots are fine so long as there are adequate drainage holes.  As aloe is a succulent, the soil to use should be a well-draining potting mix.

She may have pups.  To propagate, leave them to grow to a manageable size, enough that they won’t break when you cut them free.  Use a clean sharp knife to detach, trying to keep its little roots intact.  Leave aside to dry out and to form a protective layer over the cut.  Use cactus potting soil and a small well-draining pot, and give the same light and warmth as before, but leave it a couple of days until you start to water.  If the roots came off when you cut, don’t panic, again leave it on the side but spritz with water each day and roots will eventually appear.

Harvesting and storage

If the leaves are off-colour they’re not good to use.  When harvesting take the most mature green leaves from the outside base of the rosette, wash off, and leave in a pot of water for twenty minutes for the sap-purge.  Smaller leaves can be kept in the fridge for a week, cut a new end each time, and apply it like a paintbrush wherever it’s required.  She also keeps well in the freezer, in ready-to-use chunk size pieces.

I use a vegetable peeler to strip the spiny sides, lay it down, slice off one side, then use a knife to slice off the flesh.  It can be a slippery mess, with bits of aloe shooting off your chopping board, but it’s worth the effort.  For a gel, pop it in a blender and she’ll keep in an airtight (preferably glass) container in the fridge for about a week.  If you add either or both, vitamin C or E to the mix (about 500 mg for 60ml of gel) she can last for up to two months.  You’ll know when she’s passed her sell-by date as she’ll start to smell like feet.  A handy way to keep your aloe gel is in an ice cube tray, remembering of course that it is aloe or risk tainting a perfectly good gin and tonic.

In conclusion

Your aloe vera is easy to care for.  She needs light and warmth to grow, but if you’re not fortunate enough to have outside space, or live in the land of eternal spring, she will still prosper on a window-sill.  So whether it’s for health, beauty, medicinal purposes, or simply just to brighten up a corner of your terrace, Vera’s your girl.  She’s a wonder.  In fact, I believe if you stuck her in the middle of the next G20 summit she would instigate world peace.  It’s certainly worth a try.