How Often To Water Aloe Vera Plant – 101 Guide

If you are wondering how to water aloe vera plant a jagged green gem from the houseplants has a brief history with its amazing facts to become the most favorite among the people. People from ancient cultures like Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Meso-Americans, and American Indians utilized aloe vera plants to cure many diseases like insomnia, baldness, wounds, fever, and burns.

Facts about the Aloe Vera plant:

Some amazing facts about Aloe Vera are mentioned below, which compel you to be concerned about how often to water the aloe vera plant:

• Aloe vera plant creates two substances, latex, and gel, both of these are utilized for healing purposes. The latex of this plant is yellowish in color and comes from the plant’s skin. Aloe gel is the jelly-like, clear substance sandwiched in the center of the aloe leaves.
• Its leaves have moisturizing and health benefits. The most studied herb, aloe vera is a natural cure.
• An amazing fact about aloe vera is that the beauty queen Cleopatra used this aloe gel on her whole body as her beauty diet. Studies have proven that gel penetrates three layers of the skin.
• Aloe vera contains .5% of solid portions.
• This plant improves blood circulation through the wounded part.
• Aloe plant’s best-known quality is its cooling properties like menthol. It is best to apply aloe gel gently to minor kitchen burns, scraps, itchy insect bites, and sunburns to recover quickly.
• Aloe vera juice can give relief to gastrointestinal disorders like dyspepsia. It promotes a friendly environment for probiotics in the digestive tract and assists in maintaining a healthy pH in the intestine. Without stopping stomach acid production, balance it naturally.

However, just like other plants, aloe plants do need water. These healthier succulent plants, when kept slightly moist, have the best appearance. Watering an aloe plant can be a tricky task as excessive watering to an aloe plant will cause it to dry up and die with too little water. Plants like aloe vera need little water and naturally grow in dry desert conditions. You can also see our full guide for how to take care of a palm tree plant.

Aloe Vera Plant Care Problems

Aloe vera plant care involves multiple factors such as watering, timing, positioning, monitoring, repotting, etc.

Timing and Positioning:

Aloe vera is a plant with much easy care. It grows better and faster in warmer months and outdoors. Aloe vera plants drench sunlight willingly, and flourish best in indirect sunlight, but too much sunlight can damage the plants and cause browning of leaves; also, in the Winter, frost can harm your plant.

Repotting and Monitoring Your Aloe Vera Plant:

Leaves are the best indicator showing that your aloe vera plant is not showing its best condition. If the leaves are curling and thin, you will likely benefit from watering more.

Secondly, observe the direction of your aloe vera plant leaves. If they are growing upward, they are healthy, and if they are flat, then there are chances that your plant is not getting proper sunlight. Shift your plant from a smaller pot to a larger drainable concrete pot.

Select a pot that is three times the root ball size because they love to grow and spread. You can spread shell, rock, or pebble over the topsoil to control moisture and generate a natural environment for aloe vera plants.

Watering Aloe Vera:

Aloe vera plants get more harm from overwatering than underwatering. Sandy soil for aloe vera plants is the best option, especially in larger pots. In the winter, water will not dry quickly, so they need water sparingly, whereas, in summer, you can supply heavy water as compared to the winter season. Shortly, the aloe vera plant growth depends upon how often to water aloe vera plants.

Growing Aloe Vera Plant: 

Usually, small aloe vera plants germinate separately from the aloe vera plant. You need to repot this plant by separating it from the mother plant. Once you properly take care of the plant, you can benefit from it even years after years. Sharing for your inspiration, you can add aloe vera gel into coconut oil to produce a body hydration cream; you or mix it with honey to make a hydrant sweet face mask.

Care of aloe vera plants include:

• Lighting: Keep in indirect, bright sunlight or an artificial environment providing artificial light. A southern or western window is ideal for maximum aloe growth. Aloe vera plants mostly grow lanky in low light.
• Temperature: In a temperature between 55°F and 80°F, aloe vera plants do their best to grow. The temperature of most apartments and homes for aloe vera is ideal, but you can bring your plants outside in the UK from May to September without having any problem but do get it back inside as nights are colder than the days.
• Repotting: when the roots are bound you need to repot your plant.
• Fertilizing: Do not fertilize more than once a month. And do it occasionally in summer and spring only with a houseplant balanced formula mixed with ½ strength.
• Light Watering: Leaves of an aloe vera plant hold a lot of water, so they do not require more watering—just water an aloe plant when its soil is dry.

Can Aloe Vera Plants Live Outside in the UK

The primary reason for loving an aloe plant is its thick green leaves which look amazing in any home. Secondly, it has the incredible properties of healing wounds, kitchen burns, sunburns, baldness, insomnia, etc. Several people plant it to get digestive problems solutions, to relieve skin conditions, and a complete host of many other problems. But many people living in the United Kingdom wonder and ask if aloe vera plants live outside in the UK?

Aloe plants are native to Africa, with a range of weather conditions and climates. However, in the United Kingdom, summer aloe vera plants planted in some pots may do well and grow in certain spots of your garden. Selecting the right container and location will ensure that your aloe vera plant will do well when taken outside.

It is entirely possible to grow aloe vera plants outside in the United Kingdom but do not forget to take them indoors when summer is over, and it’s cooler outside.

How to Water Aloe Vera Plant? 

Do you water aloe plants in the right manner? Aloe plants must be watered intermittently and deeply as they store water in their leaves, stems, and roots and have reserve water in their leaves too. You’re required to offer enough water to the plant for its reserves freshening but not as much that it comes to rot at the base or roots of the plant. The water should not stay in the aloe vera plants but drain rapidly, and this can only happen when the soil is fast-draining and lightweight.

Indoor aloe plants should not be watered from the above side to evade any leaf problems or fungal diseases. Soil from all parts of the pot must be saturated until it starts coming out of the evacuating holes. The water sitting in the saucer should be drained and must not be allowed to stay there as it will cause rottenness of the aloe plant. After a complete and proper watering process, your aloe vera plant will need water after some while.

How Much Water Does an Aloe Vera Plant Needs

It’s crucial to know when to water the aloe vera plant, as improper watering doesn’t let the plant grow rightly. However, this plant doesn’t require to be very consistent with the watering schedule since it gradually changes its watering needs.

So, you don’t have to tie your routine according to the amount of time since the last 2-3 weeks. Some of the aloe plants need water again after two weeks, and some can go for three weeks. A better way to know the aloe vera plant’s watering need is to look at the soil. Ideally, 1-2 topsoil inches should dry out before again watering the plant.

Dip your finger simply until the second knuckle to know whether the soil is dry or moist now. If the soil isn’t dry, stop watering now; if it’s dry again, water your aloe plant. The reason behind not remembering and setting a schedule for watering aloe plants is that all the plants don’t have the exact watering needs.

More often watering is required for small growing aloe plants as compared to other aloe veras since they’re planted in a small pot, due to which water drains out quicker than a large pot. In Winter, aloe plants need very little watering; therefore, a watering schedule is not a reliable way to access aloe vera plant care problems. A more trustable source is examining the soil and water the plant accordingly.

Effects of Underwatering Aloe Vera

Another way to check your watering schedule is to assess plant health. Following symptoms can show your aloe vera plant is not getting enough water:

• Yellowish leaves
• Wrinkled & crumpled seeming plant

Impacts of Overwatering Aloe Vera 

Overwatering is a common problem of aloe vera plants. Too much water produces excess moisturization and boosts fungi, due to which roots get rotten. Occasionally, rotten roots become a silent killer

Signs of overwatering involves:

• Roots no longer provide nutrients to the plant that cause leaves turning brown
• Leaves will evolve edemas or watery blister
• Mushy or soft curled leaves
• In the soil, surface mold is observed

If these signs are appearing, it shows you’ve been damaging it in water. you can save it by removing diseased roots and shifting the plant into a dry pot.

Sometimes the destruction done to the plant is so extensive that you can do nothing except discard and start a new plant.

How Fast Does Aloe Vera Plant Grow

It is the environmental conditions and a lot of other conditions on which the growth rate of an aloe vera plant depends. Aloe vera plants, as compared to other juicy plants, grow faster. This fast-growing succulent plant takes a little longer to show its growth than other slow-growers. These succulent plants take years of nurture and care to flourish to a maximum height.

To attain its maximum height, this succulent plant takes almost 3-4 years of care, and every leaf needs about a month to germinate and get mature. You should never expect your juicy aloe plants to grow a new leaf every other night. The leaf won’t grow precisely from the same spot after you cut it; a new leaf will be sprouted out by the stem from the center. Germination of new leaves in this plant takes months. An aloe vera plant generally gets a height of 8-10 inches, but an adequately cared for the plant can get a maximum height of 18 inches. Still, all this is possible because of secret growing tips and a proper caring routine. These tips and proper care help a lot in the fast-growing of aloe vera plants.

Growing Aloe Vera Indoors

Aloe vera usually flourished indoors in the bathroom or kitchen. It will grow better near a bright place or window where it can receive afternoon and midday sun. Allow the pot to be dried out and do not make aloe vera plant to sit in a watery saucer. Do not let the aloe vera plant stay close to the glass as enough air circulation is not there, and the intense sun shines builds up a lot of localized heat.

Conclusion

Aloe vera plants are not so challenging to grow but over or underwatering is another common problem that can shorten the plant’s life expectancy. It is vital to understand the watering needs of an aloe vera plant to stop overwatering linked issues. Always observe and check your soil before watering an aloe plant, as it is the best indicator about how often you need to water aloe plants.