It is a plant that prefers mild, or hot climates, while it does not particularly like the cold. The ideal temperatures to grow the plant are around 20-24 °C.
Aloe arborescens plant
It must be said that, among the more than 350 species of Aloe, Aloe Arborescens is the one that better adapts to different temperatures. It can resist well to the night frosts, overcoming without problems temperatures even of some degrees below zero.
You can grow Aloe Arborescens on the ground, in your garden, if you live in Southern Italy, or in the coastal areas of the Center-North, where the winter temperatures are not very rigid. In northern regions and in general in mountainous areas, a pot cultivation is recommended, so that the plant can be sheltered during the colder months.
Whether on the ground or in pots, Aloe Arborescens loves full sun exposure. Scientific studies show that the amount of gel, the size of the plant and the length of the leaves are directly proportional to the amount of sunlight received from the plant during its lifetime.
Watering and cultivation
The Aloe Arborescens, similarly to many other succulents, tolerates very well drought, while it does not tolerate water stagnation.
Therefore, I always advise not using the saucer.
In their natural habitats Aloe plants always grow in well-drained slopes and hardly at the bottom of the valley, or in places where there may be stagnant water.
 |
| source pic: gardenia.net |
In the hottest periods of the summer, Aloe Arborescens should be watered with a certain constancy, even 1-2 times a week, trying not to wet the leaves. Avoiding the water to settle between one leaf and another, with the danger of the formation of dangerous rottenness.
Then water abundantly and let the soil dry until the next watering.
When the autumn arrives and even more during the winter, the watering is gradually reduced, until the total suspension for the whole winter. With the arrival of the spring, we gradually start again the watering.
If Aloe Arborescens is cultivated for therapeutic purposes, it is advisable not to water 7-8 days before harvesting so that the active ingredients are more concentrated.
Type of soil: Aloe Arborescens prefers a well-drained soil, where water can flow without creating stagnations. Besides, Aloe plants do not have particular needs in terms of soil.
The ideal is a mixed soil with three parts of river sand and one of universal soil, plus the addition of draining material, such as pumice stone, or volcanic lapilli.
At the bottom of the pot, or the hole of the ground, if you want to plant Aloe in the ground, always take care to deposit two fingers of expanded clay, or pieces of earthenware, or of the normal gravel. This is a simple way to improve water drainage and avoid the radical rots I was mentioning before.
Repotting: The Aloe Arborescens repotting is done every year, in spring, gradually increasing the size of the vase.
Not having a very deep root system, it is better to opt for a wider and deep vessel with adequate drainage holes since Aloe absolutely does not like water stagnation.
Fertilization: Aloe Arborescens does not require fertilization. In any case, if you want to fertilize it, this operation must be done once a month, from the beginning of spring until the end of the summer.
Since we will use the leaves for the preparation of the anti-cancer smoothie following the recipe of Father Romano Zago, I totally discourage the use of chemical fertilizers. Much better to opt for homemade natural preparations, such as the common macerated nettle, or horsetail, which provide nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, without affecting the soil with toxic substances, both for the plant and for men.
Pruning: You should not prune Aloe. Simply remove the basal leaves that dry out over time, to prevent them from becoming a vehicle for parasitic diseases.
It is very important that the tool used for cutting, is clean and disinfected on a flame, to avoid infecting the internal tissues.
 |
| source pic: photos.com |
Propagation: Aloe Arborescens, but also other species of Aloe, can be grown by seed, or from a cutting.
Being self-sterile plants, which means that the male and female flowers of the same plant cannot cross each other or with plants of the same variety, plants of different varieties of Aloe are needed in order to obtain fertile seeds.
The propagation of Aloe from a cutting is certainly the simplest and fastest way.
The cutting is nothing more than a “branch”, which must be detached from the mother plant with a sharp edge, or simply uprooted with the hands, if the cutting is not very large.
This operation must be done in the spring. The aloe cutting that normally form are taken from the base of the Aloe Arborescens plant.
They should be cut with a sharp knife, cleaned and disinfected and left in a shaded and ventilated place for a week to facilitate the release of latex which would prevent rooting.
After that, you can plant the pups in a soil made of river sand and a little soil (the 3: 1 ratio is optimal). The Aloe Arborescens pup does not require radical dust. It is a plant that roots with ease, once placed on the ground just wait, wetting the ground as little as possible. The rooting time varies from 2-3 to several months, depending on the weather conditions.
As soon as they take root, it can be repotted and treated just like other adult aloe plants.
Pests and Diseases
1. Leaves with loss of veining
If the leaves of aloe have this symptom and become completely green, it means that the lighting is poor.
Remedies: you must move the plant to a brighter place.
2. Leaves that start to turn yellow, with yellow and brown spots
After this occurrence, the leaves curl up, take on an almost powdery appearance and fall down. Observing carefully, you can also notice the thin spider webs, especially on the lower part of the leaves. With this symptomatology we are most likely in the presence of an attack of red spider mite, a very annoying and harmful mite.
Remedies: increase the frequency of the water spraying in the foliage (the lack of humidity favors their proliferation) and eventually use natural home-made (never chemical) insecticides based on garlic or using the always effective neem oil. It is an oil extracted cold from the grinding of the seeds of the Neem plant, with antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antiseptic and antifungal properties and repulsive against many types of insects and parasites, including also the red spider.
Finally, if the Aloe plant is not particularly large, you can also try to clean the leaves to eliminate the parasite using a wet and soapy cotton swab. After that the aloe goes rinsed very well to remove all the soap.
source
