Everything You Think You Know About Growing Aloe vera Is Wrong
Indirect light only, very little water, whatever soil, keep them potbound, and they are winter growers, right? Wrong, or at least not the whole truth.
First things first, Aloe vera (formerly Aloe barbadensis, and forget that var. miller stuff) is just ONE species of Aloe. It is thought to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula and the scientific name has bounced around between a few names. The current accepted name is Aloe vera. There are over 600 accepted Aloe species and hybrids, vera is just one. So calling different Aloes “types of Aloe Vera” is incorrect.
The plant is described as a stemless or sometimes short stemmed plant with fleshy, green or grey-green mostly upright leaves that gets about 25–40 inches tall at maturity. There is a very common spotted variety that I think more people are familiar with as being “Aloe Vera”…the smaller, lighter green and much more prolific Aloe vera var. chinensis. Both of these varieties are touted as easy to grow houseplants, so why do so many people have trouble growing them? Because they are following not so great advice given by well meaning people.
Let’s start with this indirect light only business. Not only is it not true, but lack of adequate light causes these plants to have weak growth that is more susceptible to rot, pests and other issues. Thin, pale green, droopy leaves and twisted stems that don’t support the plant…these are all signs of etiolation caused by inadequate light conditions. They also often stay in the juvenile form much longer, where the leaves are stacked in vertical rows (distichous.) They are tough, adaptable plants, and many Aloe vera houseplants will survive in poor growing conditions, but they really aren’t thriving. Now, I don’t grow indoors, but lighting indoors can be complicated. Even next to a window, your plant isn’t getting as much light as you think it is since it has the window pane between it and the sun. Across the room from the window? Way too little light. Growing succulents indoors often requires additional grow lights.
The thing about light is that people don’t properly acclimate their plant to it, or they mistake the temporary brown stress color for sunburn and panic. The brown will go away when the plant adjusts, and real sunburn causes bleached spots that leave permanent damage. That also just means the plant was too quickly moved into more sun than it was used to, not that they hate sun. Slowly move them, let them adjust, and they’ll be fine. They also appreciate more water when it’s hot and sunny. There are many Aloe species that do need a lot more sun than vera does, but still, in a lot of places vera can take full sun once properly acclimated. Mine happily grow outdoors in the SE Texas sun. It is one variety that can do well with less direct sun, but definitely do not put all Aloes together as far as care and growing conditions.
For instance, a lot of the dormancy charts you’ll find online lump all Aloes together as “winter growers”, which is not 100% true and a little more complicated than that. Aloe vera is not summer dormant, they grow in the spring, summer and fall. Other species ARE winter growers, and some that aren’t technically summer dormant may still go dormant in extreme heat. Some may not go dormant on a “normal” habitat schedule. It really depends on the variety, where that variety is from, and where your plant is growing.
Now watering, and soil because soil mix matters as much as watering. They don’t hate water, and it does matter what soil you use. They like to be watered deeply but infrequently, depending on things like the time of year and your environment, and for the soil mix they are in to not stay damp very long. If you just water a little and wait for the soil to dry, but it takes like two weeks for it to dry completely…well, that can still cause overwatering issues. Their roots do not like to stay damp, so they really need a free draining mix. This is why Aloes so often have poor root systems — they are potted in poor draining soil that smothers them. Often the roots dying off will cause the plant to look thirsty, with thin, concave leaves, so you water more, right? And then the plant rots, because it’s sitting in damp soil, with no roots and you don’t know what happened because you barely ever water it.
Or you go to repot and it just pulls right out of the soil, or the plant just falls over on it’s own one day. This is mostly a poor drainage issue, but can definitely be made worse by weak growth from lack of light. Don’t mist when you water, especially not the plant itself. Water in the center of the plant will cause it to rot. Research gritty succulent mixes and make your own, there are a lot of options to choose from. Just go with whatever you can easily find and make sure to have a 2–3 different types in the mix. If you use just one thing and it’s too fine of a grit, like sand, it’s going to compact and hold water. I personally don’t like perlite because it’s too light, and I’ve gotten it in my eye so I may be holding a bit of a grudge 🤷♀️
I use turface, expanded shale and chicken grit mixed with some regular bagged potting soil. My mix is very heavily grit because of the rain and humidity here, you may not have to go as gritty. Also, with a grittier soil mix you’ll have to add fertilizer. I water with a cacti fertilizer and have added worm castings to most of my pots. A lot of the bagged potting soils that are supposedly for cacti and succulents really aren’t that different from the regular stuff…they’re still heavily organic (peat based) and benefit from mixing something gritty (inorganic) into them.
The potbound thing isn’t as big of a deal, I think it just makes it harder for people to overwater if the plant is potbound. And with how quickly Aloe vera var. chinensis can fill a pot with pups, I can see where this idea that they “like” it came from. This could be more of a preference thing, if you like the full pot look and you want to control the size, don’t pot them up very often. I pot most of mine up as they grow, and with the gritty mix I use I don’t worry too much about pot size. If it’s a huge pot and a small plant with a small root system, that isn’t a good idea. Just use your best judgement and go with what works for you. Indoors, terra cotta might be a good choice to use, but if you live somewhere as hot as where I am and use the gritty mix, it isn’t necessary. It can even cause the plant to be TOO dry, which you don’t want either.
Really, it’s a learning curve. You might kill a few, but if you keep with it you’ll eventually find what works for you and your plants. Find a good balance of enough light, good drainage and watering. It’ll get easier from there.
