How To Grow Aloe From Seeds

When planting Aloes, it’s of extreme importance to provide good substrate drainage. That’s why it’s good to make a mixture of the following ingredients: garden soil, sand and perlite. You can use coconut peat too at the beginning. It’s necessary to sterilize the substrate in a microwave for 3mins or in the oven at 350°F (180°C) for 45 minutes.

You can plant Aloes in any kind of container. See-through plastic containers are the most practical, because you can easily see how damp the substrate is at any time. Ceramic containers are not recommended because they keep the moisture around the walls for longer periods of time. It’s necessary that the container has numerous holes at the bottom, so that the excess of water can flow easily.

Make the substrate and put it in the container, but as you do that be careful not to overfill the container. It’s best to leave at least 0.8 inches (2cm) to the top. You can correctly water the substrate during planting like this: the container in which the seed is planted should be sunk in water (it’s best to use rain or boiled water). You can do it by filling any container with the amount of water needed to fill half of a container used for sowing. Leave the container in water for some time, until you see that the surface of the substrate is wet. After you see that, you can take the container out of the water and leave it to dry well.

You should put Aloe seeds on the surface of the prepared substrate, gently pushing them with a straight object. You don’t need to cover the seeds with substrate.

You can keep the moisture in the container in various ways. You can use nylon and position it with a rubber band to the container; you can use a piece of glass which can be positioned at the edges of the flower pot… The best way to do this is to simply put the container into a plastic bag with a zip opener.

Aloe seed is best to plant during the warm months, but you can plant it during winter too, provided that you can supply it with an ample amount of light, warmth and moist. Minimal temperature for Aloe germination is 70°F (21°C). The container with the seed should be put on a bright spot in your apartment, but not exposed to direct sunlight.

Bag with the container should NOT be opened for at least three months. After those three months, you should open the bag every day for half an hour so that the seedlings which germinated can slowly start to get accustomed to the climate which is different from the one it’s been in. You should do this for a month, after which the plant will be completely ready to leave the bag.

Light plays an important role in lives of your baby Aloes now. Put them on a bright spot, under no circumstances exposed to direct sunlight and spray it from time to time. You may need to repot them only when the plants start running out of space or the container is too shallow.

Aloe Maintenance

Place: You need to provide a bright spot for Aloes, but the plant shouldn’t be exposed to direct sunlight during the whole day. It’s best to find a somewhat shadowy spot. If the plant turns darker or gets brown spots, that means that the sun is too strong. You can grow in the garden during summer, and during winter it needs a bright spot with a temperature of 42 to 53°F (6 to 12°C).

Watering: Aloes need to be watered somewhat more often, but you should wait for the substrate to dry during two watering processes. Water it less often during winter, approximately 3 times from November to March. You can spray it here and there, but don’t overdo it. There’s a high probability that the Aloe will wither during winter and look dry, but it will get its good looks when the spring arrives. Too much moist, during either summer or winter is not good because the root rots and the plant can die.

Topdressing: You can apply topdressing to the plant every 14 days during summer with mineral plant fertilizer. You should completely exclude topdressing during winter.

Substrate: The ideal Aloe substrate is garden soil mixed with a bit of sand, in proportion 2:1. The most important part for it is to provide good water flow, i.e. not to keep water in the pot for too long. In order to manage the best substrate water flow you can, you can add a bit of perlite to the prepared mix, and you can cover the bottom of the pot with gravel.

Repotting: Aloes are repotted only if the old container becomes too small for them, and you should do it only in spring. During repotting you need to be careful and find a flower pot deep enough and to plant the plant on the same depth it was in the last flower pot.

Aloe usually flowers only after three to six years.

About Post Author