Question

Aloe?   QUESTION: Can you please tell me what kind of plant this is?? Thanks so much! Robbie

ANSWER: Robbie,

Yes, you have an aloe vera plant, quite a large one it appears. There are literally hundreds of varieties of aloe vera. It is used for many medicinal purposes and should be treated like a cactus, watered only when dry and kept in the sunniest location possible indoors. Outdoors it would be better in a semi shady location so it does not get sunburned. If you have further questions feel free to write again. Good luck!

Darlene

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QUESTION: thanks so much! took it out of direct sunlight today. leaves are brown in spots. does that affect benefits of the gel? also, can i separate the pups if attached to the mother plant without damaging either? thanks again! I appreciate the service you provide!!

Answer
Robbie,

No the brown spots do not affect the quality of the gel. Yes, you can separate the pups. I usually separate the large plant by gently removing it using a butter knife to carefully loosen the roots then I plant it in a taller than usual narrow pot and only put soil in the bottom half of the pot. Then the top part of the pot supports the large aloe and makes it stand up better. Sometimes pots like that are hard to find and I have found ceramic wide mouthed vases and had my husband drill a hole in the bottom for drainage. When you remove the large one then one of the pups will take over and start growing large or you can separate them all but they will just keep producing lots of babies so you best be prepared to go into the aloe business on ebay or you better have lots of friends to give them to. Good luck!

Darlene