Looking for houseplants that are easy to care for, hard to kill, and offer benefits to the home? Succulents are the answer! More specifically, an aloe vera plant. The aloe vera plant is a perennial loved for its low-maintenance care. It also provides the home and its occupants with plenty of unique and amazing benefits!
The aloe vera plant, known as the plant of immortality by Ancient Egyptians, displays tall, spiky, green leaves. These leaves are known for their sap-filled and fleshy insides, which are mostly made up of water.
Want to know more about why adding an aloe vera plant to your home is advantageous? Learn about the five benefits of growing an aloe vera plant indoors!
Purifies the Air
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Aloe vera has something to offer when it comes to improving the air in your home!
Aloe vera was one of the many houseplants NASA studied in 1989 to assess which reduced indoor pollution and rid the home of airborne toxins. The results? Aloe vera is one of the plants that are good for absorbing these pollutants, which tend to creep into homes. Through the process of photosynthesis, it takes in the bad air and transforms it into clean oxygen.
Specifically, aloe vera was found to absorb formaldehyde and benzene from the air. So, aloe vera is there to help when it comes to plants with plenty to offer the air. But that isn’t all! When an aloe vera plant lives in your home, or even better, your bedroom, it removes carbon dioxide and toxins from the air.
The aloe vera plant performs this air exchange mostly at night when photosynthesis no longer occurs. The release of oxygen at night increases your sleep quality and reduces common sleep problems. Thank you, aloe vera!
Use Aloe Vera Sap for Healing
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Aloe vera is most commonly known for its ability to heal the body, especially burns and wounds. The sap in its spiky leaves contains antioxidants like vitamins A, C, E, and B12. The "magical" sap also contains other properties like folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and zinc.
With all these fantastic things found within aloe vera leaves, it is no wonder the plant can heal! Apply it topically, allowing the sap and its benefits to absorb into the skin.
Some uses of aloe vera include consumption of it too! By ingesting the sap, aloe offers plenty of antioxidants that might lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Aloe vera may relieve constipation and heartburn, improve skin, and increase hydration. To gain these benefits, harvest the sap from your aloe vera leaves, mix them with water, and drink it as juice!
Use a clean knife or shears to cut off a leaf to harvest the medicinal gel-like sap from your plant. Slice the leaf open lengthwise and ease out the sap by squeezing it with your hand (use your garden gloves!) or using a spoon. This gel is then useable for burns, healing wounds, psoriasis, cold sores, and more. Just remember never to put the sap on an open wound!
Note: Always consult your doctor before applying aloe vera gel to your skin or wounds, and when it comes to ingesting it. Though aloe vera has many healing properties, it may interact with certain medications or cause allergic reactions.
Use Aloe Vera Sap for Your Beauty Routine
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Harvesting that special aloe vera sap isn't only good for burns and healing wounds. Use aloe vera to enhance your beauty routine too! Aloe vera is a prevalent ingredient in many everyday beauty products. These products include hair products, makeup removers, and moisturizers. You'll often find it listed in the ingredients by its botanical name, Aloe Barbadensis.
Aloe vera is mixed in many manufactured products, but if you have an aloe plant, why not create your own? Extract the gel through careful cutting and harvesting, and use it directly on your skin and hair! Applying aloe vera directly to your skin is said to offer brightening, hydrating, and acne-reducing benefits. This simple gel absorbs more quickly into the skin than commercial moisturizers containing other ingredients.
Because aloe vera is so hydrating, it has the same effect on hair as on skin. Use the gel as a hair mask to increase the shine and health of your hair! But the uses don't stop there; it also removes makeup! Put a drop of the sap onto a cotton ball to remove makeup easily.
For those with sensitive skin or allergies, consult your doctor before incorporating aloe vera into your beauty routine.
It's the Plant That Keeps on Giving
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Looking for another benefit to growing an aloe vera plant? When an aloe vera plant is healthy and thriving, it often produces plant babies or pups. Instead of letting those pups grow and expand within the plant parent's pot, why not propagate?
Propagating offers the chance to add more aloe vera plants throughout your home. Or, if you are feeling generous, share those plant babies with friends and family so they can take advantage of aloe vera's benefits, too!
To propagate an aloe vera plant with sprouted pups, have a sharp knife or shears, a new pot, and healthy succulent soil. If you're planning to repot your aloe vera anyway, it's easiest to remove the pups by first gently easing your parent plant out of its pot.
Brush away the soil near the aloe pup. Every plant baby has a root system, so ease the new pup and its system away from the parent plant. Use your knife/shears to help this clean division.
Once you've removed the aloe vera pup from the parent, plant it in a new pot. Ta-da! You have a brand-new aloe vera plant for your home or to share with others!
Brings Good Vibes to Your Home
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Do you want to improve balance and energy indoors? Many say the aloe vera plant is advantageous if you seek to boost your home’s vibes!
In Feng Shui, aloe vera plants are believed to increase luck and bring positive energy to a space. Some spiritual beliefs suggest aloe vera wards away evil and diseases. If you feel like your home needs a good energy booster, add an aloe vera plant!
Pro Tip: Looking for another plant to bring good vibes to your home? The peace lily is said to offer similar benefits of positivity, luck, and good energy!
Ultimate Aloe Vera Growing Conditions
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To reap aloe vera's many benefits, you first need to find a place in the home where it thrives! Aloe vera plants are succulents, which means they need plenty of light. Locate a spot in your home that offers full sun (about eight hours daily).
Use a soil mixture with perlite, sand, or peat to aid in proper drainage. An aloe vera plant struggles when the soil is too wet, so checking the soil before each watering is best. To verify the moisture of the soil, insert your finger into the dirt. Doing so gives you a clear idea of whether it is time to water.
If your aloe vera plant does not receive enough light, water, or does not have good soil, it will droop. Your aloe vera plant will reward you with all its benefits with proper care!
Note: Aloe vera plants are toxic to both dogs and cats. Call your local veterinarian immediately if your pets ingest any aloe vera plant.
Say Aloe to Your (New) Little Friend!
Next time you want to add a plant friend to your home, consider saying ‘aloe’ to an aloe vera plant!
Aloe vera plants have so many benefits for both health and wellness in the home. They look great in an office, bedroom, or living room and help you feel better too! These succulents offer clean air, healing opportunities, oxygen at night, and even spiritual wellness in the home.
Where do you plan to put your new aloe vera plant? Comment below with what your favorite spot and benefit from this plant are!