Aloe Vera Plant

The Aloe Vera Plant is a spiky, impressively hardy desert succulent plant that adds unique beauty and beneficial uses to any home. It looks like an almost perfect combination of classic succulents and cacti with its thick, water-retaining leaves and slightly prickly edges. Plus, it has first-aid benefits hidden within its lush leaves! Aloe Vera gel is a staple skincare ingredient that has an incredibly soothing and healing effect on the skin. It cools burns and sunburns, reduces redness, and moisturizes deeply to prevent fine lines and wrinkles.

There are many reasons why having an Aloe Plant around is a smart idea! Not many plants look this attractive AND provide such a long list of natural healing benefits. Read on to learn more about this wonder of a plant, including its characteristics, grow tips, benefits, relatives and more!

What is an Aloe Vera Plant?

Aloe Vera Plants are incredibly common house and garden plants because they’re so easy to care for, and their inner gel provides soothing relief from burns and scrapes! They’re commonly called the “first-aid plant.” These healing plants originally hail from the Arabian Peninsula region. They have a long history of being used as medicinal plants, dating back to ancient Egypt.

• Plant Size: Aloe Vera Plants can typically grow to about one to two feet tall. Since their leaves grow upward AND outward, their width can often outmeasure their height.
• Light: In general, indoor Aloe Plants need as much indirect sunlight as possible. West or south-facing windows are typically the best places for these sun-loving plants. Outdoor-growing Aloe Vera requires between three and four hours of sunlight per day, but not any more than that.
• Watering: Like many other succulents, you should wait until the top third of your Aloe’s soil has dried before watering. You can use a toothpick to monitor the soil’s moisture. During the spring/summer growing season, they’ll only need water about every two weeks.
• Temperature/Humidity: Aloe Vera is incredibly resilient and can withstand temperatures ranging from 55° to 80°. They generally thrive in the average household temperature of 65° to 75°. Aloe doesn’t like high humidity, so even if you live in a dry climate, your plant can flourish!

Why Choose an Aloe Vera Plant for Your Home?

Aside from the gorgeous, pale green leaves, people love Aloe Vera for its medicinal properties. At the center of the thick leaves lies an abundance of soothing, cooling plant gel commonly used to treat sunburns. The gel can also help reduce pain from cuts and help prevent fine lines and wrinkles! Simply slice off a leaf and squeeze out the nutrient-rich gel. Leaves can also be juiced for a cool, stomach-soothing beverage.

Aloe Vera gel is a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins that may help protect your skin. It can protect you from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, repair the skin and heal existing UV damage. It’s a summertime essential!

Cosmetic and medicinal companies are constantly adding Aloe Vera to their products. It’s refreshing, calming, and incredibly gentle – making it the perfect natural solution to many skin irritations. If you check the ingredients labels on your hydrating lotions and conditioners, you’ll likely see Aloe Vera!

Succulents like Aloe Vera are also adept at air purification. NASA uncovered in 1989 that several plant species are great natural air purifiers, and Aloe is one of the best ones on the list! It purifies your home’s air, provides a soothing relief gel, AND adds an interesting pop of spikey green to your house!

Related: Aloe Vera Plant Care: A Guide to Inspire Growth & Wellness

Aloe Vera Plant Family Relatives

Aloe vera plants are very common houseplants, but did you know that there are hundreds of varieties of aloe? Let’s look at some of the most unique varieties to keep in your home.

• Aloe’ Crosby’s Prolific’: This variety of Aloe Vera is somewhat intimidating in appearance as it boasts several translucent teeth-like growths across its leaves. It remains smaller than other varieties of the Aloe Vera Plant, and under the right conditions, it blooms with orange flowers!
• Aloe Aristata: This super unique Aloe variety’s leaves are speckled with very pale green dots and splotches and are rimmed with fine white teeth. The Aristata prefers a little less light than its family members, and it grows bright red-orange flowers from November through April!
• Aloe Rubroviolacea: Aloe Rubroviolacea, also called Arabian Aloe, is a particularly drought-tolerant aloe variety. If you’re forgetful with watering, this is the Aloe variety for you. It has blue-green leaves and reddish teeth that give it a unique and delightful appearance.

Final Thoughts – Aloe Vera Plant

Aloe Vera Plants bring an abundance of healing and beauty to every home. As they thrive in sunny, warm climates, you may want to keep one around for the inevitable sunburns that come with those regions. Whether or not you need its gel, Aloe is a unique and beneficial houseplant in numerous ways.