You May Aw At The Aloe Vera Pups That Are So Easy To Grow!

The aloe vera pups can be understood as the babies of the full-grown aloe vera plants that later grow into increasing their family. Don’t you get the easy vibes already while thinking about growing the aloe plants through the pups? Read on to know all about handling the aloe pups and how you can have a great number of aloe plants growing in your house with their help.

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Little something about the aloe vera plant

Treated as a boon for so many healing purposes, the plant of Aloe Vera is known to everyone. This plant belongs to the group of succulents that come under the plant genus named Aloe. Everything about this plant is interesting and there are a lot of ways you can use this plant, be it ornamental, medicinal, healing, beautifying, or even for cooking purposes.

It is the leaves of this plant that contain the whole magic. The leaves are bright green in color, fleshy, and contain a very thick liquid substance filled in them that is sealed by teethy sharp edges. These grow out of a very thin stem and create a fan-like shape.

Aloe vera pups are small aloe vera plants!

The name itself gives the hint that aloe pups are the babies or smaller plant bunches of a bigger aloe vera plant. Pups are the offsets or offshoots of a fully grown aloe plant and can be found emerging near the base of the parent plant.

There is practically no difference between the two only that the roots of the pups are weaker and need some support and extra care to become the bigger plant that they are a part of. Everything starting from morphology to culture is the same about the two and both of them give rise to each other.

The thing to note here is that pups don’t emerge in all the aloe vera plants. You can see them popping up only on the actively growing and healthy plants. If your aloe plant isn’t producing any pups, then it may be because the plant is under stress, at the immature stage, or not getting the right type of growth conditions.

These aloe vera pups are not to be discarded rather they are the starter plants that you can use to increase the population of your aloe plants. They should also not be allowed to overgrow as they can crowd out the pot. The best way to handle them is division and re-propagation which you will learn about in the coming sections.

Guide on dealing with the aloe vera pups

The method of how to transplant aloe vera pups and caring for them is entirely similar to the way it is done for the aloe vera plants as we have already said above. However, there are certain extra steps that one must be cautious about while dealing with the pups. It is these little things as well as the bigger steps that we are going to detail out to you now.

Determining the aloe pups

We are going to start with telling you how to determine the right aloe pups that need to be picked for separation and further treatment. Check the base of the mature plant and you will see smaller clusters of aloe leaves emerging out of the soil. You only have to pick those pups that are at least 3-4 inches in height as they will be able to stand for re-plantation conditions.

Finding the right time

The best time to remove the pups is during spring and summer because the plant is in its active growth stage and can recover better from the plant cuts. They are relatively dormant in the colder months and might not be able to heal. You may even cut off the light supply to the parent plant for some time before the division process to make it a little weak and easily treatable.

Method of separating the aloe pups

Before transplanting aloe vera, talking about how the pups must be separated from the plant and made ready for further handling is equally important. Separating or dividing the pups rightly is of crucial importance as that can affect the health of both parent and baby plant.

The pups are attached to their roots too but are also connected with the parent plant base at the same time. To separate them properly, you can use the following tips:

Start with taking out the whole bigger plant from the pot. Brush as much soil as possible from the roots.
Look out for the pups and try to pull them away gently. If they come out easily with the roots intact, good! If they are a little stringent, then you can cut them out with a garden knife.
Keep the parent plant firmly held all the while to not end up letting its roots or stem hurt.
Now, let both the parent plant and the pups to recover from the cuts and callus too before they are planted or re-planted further. They should be given a rest for about 1-6 days in an indirectly lit, dry, and cool place.

Method of re-planting the aloe pups

Now that you have your pups ready to settle in a new home, you will need to know how to transplant aloe vera pups and help them settle properly. Here are the tips that you can use:

Arrange the pups as per their size and get the pots of the suitable size for each of them. On average, pots with a diameter of 4 inches will do well and you can choose to have them of the biodegradable material that can easily be inserted into the soil with the plant directly.
Fill a standard succulent potting mix into the pot till about 2/3rd of the height. You can also use a mix of perlite and compost in a ratio of 1:2. The aim is to have a well-draining mix.
Now, you have to insert these pups into the soil in the same manner they were growing in their earlier habitat. Tuck them in the soil gently and deep enough similar to previous times.
Spread a thick enough layer of compost, preferably worm compost, around the plant to weigh it down and help it stand firmly.
You don’t have to water the plant until the roots develop and this will take about three to four days. After the compost dries out, put some water.

Caring for the transplanted aloe pups plants

After transplanting aloe vera pups, you would need to provide some care to the young plant so that they grow to be healthier and mature plants just like their parent plant. Following are some great after-care tips that are just similar to the care regime for any regular aloe vera plant:

The main rule of watering aloe vera plants is to irrigate them deeply but at infrequent intervals. Within two watering sessions, the top-third part of the soil bed must become dry. On the general note, aloe vera plants can do well with being watered at minimum two weeks gap during the warmer months and even more infrequently when it gets colder.
The main rule of watering aloe vera plants is to irrigate them deeply but at infrequent intervals. Within two watering sessions, the top-third part of the soil bed must become dry. On the general note, aloe vera plants can do well with being watered at minimum two weeks gap during the warmer months and even more infrequently when it gets colder.
Another thing to ensure is that the pot of the plant must have a drainage hole. You can even keep a clay mold or something near it to save the soil but also let the excess water pass easily.
The watering regime of the aloe pups is slightly different from the regular aloe plants as they need a little more quantity of water to get established. Water them every week till they become mature and then follow the above watering regime.
Aloe vera is a very light feeder and would only need a monthly feeding with any balanced houseplant fertilizer during the warm months. Make sure to dilute the fertilizer at about half its strength.
The ideal temperature range for the aloe vera plants is 55-80 degrees F and they don’t like the colder temperatures very much. Save them from the sudden temperature jolts as that can kill the leaves. Bring the pots inside during frost or on chilling nights.
Aloe vera plants also don’t need much sun and they prefer to be kept in shaded locations that must be warm but not receive any direct sunlight. However, it is equally important to let them have enough light and warmth otherwise they would become leggy and weak.
When moving the pups outdoors after they have grown enough, make sure that the weather outside is warm. Plant them in the soil bed and water them only after two days till they settle.
Aloe vera plants are susceptible to issues like scale, mealybugs, rotting in the roots, leaf, and stem, fungus, etc. All you need to do is prevent the plant from receiving excess water to avoid these problems.

Conclusion

This was all about the aloe vera pups that are the best ways to expand your aloe vera members in the garden. If you are planning to grow them commercially or just have them enough to use for general purposes, these pups are surely the best way to start.

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