Yesterday my awesome neighbor gave me a large aloe plant pup dug from her garden. I felt like I won the lottery! When you get a cutting or root from a neighbor’s garden, those are always the best. You know they are already acclimated and tried and true plants for your local climate. Here’s how to plant an aloe.
Aloes in particular are amazing plants which are super hardy and do well in many parts of California. Many of them can even survive through light frosts. So needless to say, I was more than pleased to get a new addition to the landscape.
This one was a fairly large aloe. It had been sitting out for a few days already, so I went to work getting it into the ground. Why does it matter if it had been sitting out? Contrary to what you might guess, you should not plant aloe immediately after cutting. The wound is fresh and if set into wet soil, it could rot. You actually want the fleshy cut of the aloe to ‘heal’ before adding it to the ground, especially during rainy seasons. This just means the cut should dry for a few days.
I already have several kinds of aloe growing in pots and flower beds – Clumping aloes, shrubby aloes, and even a few tree aloes, Like Aloe Ferox (cape aloe). I leave these outdoors in their pots all year long – and I hardly do a thing to them.
Aloes like a lot of sun, which we have plenty of here. Drought and heat tolerant, as well as cold tolerant. Many even managing through a light frost. Generally, the large varieties I grow are hardy to about 30 degrees F.
Propagating an Aloe Cutting
There are two types of propagation for aloes. The first and easier propagation is division. Division is where you can separate aloe pups off of the parent plant, and each pup has its own root system. Usually the pup’s roots are separate and growing in the soil. These pups can go right in the ground.
The second type of propagation for aloes is from a cutting. A cutting is taking a pup, or smaller but fully formed rosette with no roots, off of an aloe parent’s stem. Because the rosette has a stem, the new plant will usually be able to grow new roots right off of the stem of the pup. The thing to remember when doing this, though, is that you must allow the cut area to “heal”, or harden over. If you do not, the fleshy stem could rot in wet soil.
I decided to plant this aloe cutting back in a new garden I’ve been creating behind the pavilion. I‘ve been trying to beautify the steps leading to the well pump house, which, as a utilitarian part of the property, have been overlooked until now. This will be a dry garden, despite the proximity to our well pump house, because it is an infrequently used area, so I don’t want any plant to grow fast and out of control to create extra pruning work for me, especially in an area we don’t see a lot.
So far I’ve planted Jade, Aeoniums, Calendrinia, and a few other super hardy succulent style plants in this back area. All have been cuttings or divisions from existing plants around the farm (who doesn’t love FREE plants!). The area is good for a dry garden, because it gets about a half a day of shade from the pavilion which reduces the rate of water evaporation and the amount of water needed. But there is still enough sun so that the succulents so far have been plenty happy. These are all super hardy succulents that can adapt easily.
Despite the fact that this *will be* a dry garden, even the hardiest plants need some water to get their roots started during the first 6 months or so. Usually with aloes you want to refrain from watering the first few days after planting the pup, otherwise the roots could get waterlogged and rot.
Tips for planting an aloe cutting
- Try to make a clean cut – easiest if you use a sharp gardening blade. Shears or a spade could create a ragged edge, which could stress the plant and introduce pathogens.
- Shorter Aloe stems often root faster
- Always heal the stem before planting an aloe cutting. You want it to develop a callous, and is dry rather than wet or oozing. A few days to a week is usually sufficient to allow the cut to heal, but longer is usually fine, too, depending upon the type of aloe.
- Do not overwater the plant within the first two weeks after planting an aloe cutting. This will rot the aloe stem. There should be a little moisture in the soil to help promote the root growth, but aloe cuttings usually do not need much.
I’ll post more pictures as she grows up!
