Using Aloe Vera in your grows

Got this plant pretty much dead , 3 years ago. I have been using it exclusively for cutting gel and it works great. It also laughs at the abuse I put it through and just keeps growing lol

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Can you elaborate on your process here @catapult ? Iā€™m in the need to cut back one of my Mother plants and would love to try this out! :haircut_woman: :seedling: :hugs:

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To make your own natural rooting formula, mix 55 grams of fresh aloe into 4.5 litres of water, then add one teaspoon of potassium silicate. Dip the cut end of fresh cuttings into the solution, then place into rooting blocks.

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I grow it in my garden here and use it in my soil with crushed pumice stone.

Great plant for medicinal and cultivation.

And when it flowers the hummingbirds love :heart: it.

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To use it for clones I just cut off a shoot from the plant. Scoop and/or squeeze all the gel out and wisp it in a bowl, then I pour that into a shot glass and just dip my cut as usual.
I also have started adding the gel to the water I soak my cubes in.

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Sure, @Pigeonman; itā€™s my relatively low tech /low maintenance technique that works well enough for me (17 of 18 of my last round of cuttings survived).

I cut 1-2ā€ pieces of aloe, pinch them a little to soften their gel then I just poke my cuttings into the aloe and prop them in small Dixie cups for 24-48 hours. After that I remove the cutting from the aloe and transfer to my cloning medium, sometimes cubes, lately Iā€™ve just been using small pots of my soil mixture, making sure to be on the light/airy side w soil. Iā€™m thinking i want the cutting to soak up the beneficial aloe juice (which it seems to do), but wouldnā€™t want to transfer it after roots have started growing. So a day or two seems to give them a good kick start with no other cloning gel. Iā€™ve experimented w just leaving the aloe in place, but i didnā€™t love the rotting plant matter on the surface.

Semi-daily light misting of aloe fpj on clones w once a week slightly heavier watering of the soil w microbe water. Aim for 70% rh and 78F. Aiming to keep clones medium closer to dry than saturated, but in a high humidity environment.

Thatā€™s what I do.
Cheers!

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Thanks! This is very detailed and super appreciated! :hugs:

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Sure, np

Aloe fpj is easy to make also.

Mix equal parts aloe by weight chopped up into 1ā€ pieces with brown sugar. Allow to ferment at room temp w breathable cover for 10-14 days.

Bubbling /fementation should slow down with a slight change in oder. Itā€™s time to strain off liquid, and you have aloe fpj.

Start w 1mL per gallon H2O for clones / seedlings 1x per week as foliar.

5mL per gallon for bigger plants foliar and/or soil drench.

I keep in refridge, but can also be made shelf stable w additional 50% added sugar by weight, after ferment.

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I have used aloe extensively for a number of years now. I think it can be an outstanding addition to ones garden. :pray:

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Never had to do that, I throw whole leaves in a blender with some water, never noticed anything negative from it

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Ur overwatering it! Aloe needs water once or twice a month if that, remember technically itā€™s a cactus

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Whoa! U got some awesome striping on your plants!! My patch isnā€™t as cool

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um it has been watered maybe 3 or 4 times in the past year. Its problem is lack of light. Anyway it covers my needs :slight_smile:

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I just see thick heavy with water leaves flopping over haha that plant sure holding water pretty damn good!! Guess indoor with those would without wind and warmer temps haha that entire plant is about the amount I use in a 10 gallon batch of compost tea when I bubble up of the thickest leaves I can pluck!

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The plate is there because when I do water I have to bottom water because the soil it is in is so dry. It didnā€™t like being in the sunny window so in the one it is in it only gets sun in the summer. I also only have about 9 hours of daylight atm lol

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In the future when u build soil or picking out soils to use back off from the peat moss and use Coco coir instead, Iā€™m getting away from peat cuz Iā€™m tired of the hydrofoil(not soaking in and splashing back or dumping out) with waterings. Def makes a huge difference!

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Shit I didnt know they flower lol does it need a cool period to flower?

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I use water soluble aloe powder from buildasoil for my clones, foliar, and in my waterings, but only in veg. I drop it off right before flowering. Itā€™s filled with Saponins, helps stimulate root growth, and it supposed to help prevent disease and resist environmental stress.

Where Iā€™m from, you could find it everywhere growing wild nobody paid attentionā€¦
When social media became a thing, suddenly people were aware of its medicinal benefits and you could rarely spot it in the wild nowā€¦
We as kids used to throw rocks at it from distance to see who could break it branches from afarā€¦
And I also remember plucking itā€™s flower and sipping nectar from it ā€¦
Pleasant memories manā€¦

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The Aloe I grow is Aloe ArbaBarabis, it grows here great, yours is a different typeā€¦itā€™s great for your skin and all the girls here all use it when shampooing there hairā€¦great for soothing burnsā€¦and sun burn.

Lots of folks think aloe Vera is from the Cactus familyā€¦but itā€™s a succulent with over 400 species world wide

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