How to transplant aloe vera plants is an important skill you should try and master if you intend to see your plants grow healthily and have little aloe vera pups. Aloe plants might be easy to grow since they can survive indoors and outdoors.
However, their easy growth means they can easily outgrow any pot you place them in, which is probably why you’re here. Worry less; we’ll be transplanting aloe vera with you through the step-by-step guide we’ve prepared below.
Contents
What Are the Key Steps to Transplant Aloe Vera?
The key steps to transplant aloe vera are getting the right tools and supplies, preparing your new pot, getting your plant ready for easy removal, preparing the soil, and transplanting your aloe to its new home. Lastly, make sure to cover it and water the new plant.
1. Get the Required Tools and Supplies
Before you start transplanting your aloe plant, you need to ensure that you own these gardening tools to make the entire process as easy as possible. The tools and the supplies you will need for transplanting include a new pot, potting soil, a small shovel or trowel, porous material, such as stones, a watering can, old newspapers, and a pair of gardening gloves.
2. Prepare Your New Pot
Now, you must prepare the new home you’ll be moving your plant into, which is often a pot or container. Make sure the pot you purchase is at least twice the size of your old pot. During this step, you must be sure that the new pot you want to use has drainage holes to drain water and keep your plant root from rotting and developing fungi.
You may aim to get a pot made of porous material, such as clay or terracotta, as pots with these materials make it easy for the soil to breathe while minimizing waterlogging. Your new pot should be clean before you start transplanting your aloe plants, so now, wash it and keep it clean.
3. Water Your Plant 24 Hours Before Transplant
If your aloe vera doesn’t have signs of overwatering, such as being pale in color, you must water it 24 hours before the day you want to transplant it. Not only will this step make it easy to relocate your plant, but it’ll also help reduce transplant shock. However, you may try to skip this step if your aloe vera has already shown signs of overwatering because it has been sufficiently watered.
4. Prepare Your Potting Soil
Use your hands to break up your potting compost. Ensure there are no lumps, and the soil you choose is dry or well-draining, such as cactus mix. You’re dealing with a succulent plant, and too much water can make the roots rot easily, which will help the water drain.
Also, make sure that the soil has excellent nutrients. Do not utilize soil mix that includes additives like perlite, coco peat, and peat moss. You must now guarantee your soil has exceptional airflow to help the root absorb more oxygen.
5. Add Porous Material and Soil
You can add porous materials like stone chips or small stones at the very base of the pot. Adding these materials will help your plant drain water easily, thereby helping you prevent rot.
Once the stones are in place, add the soil for your plants, and check that the soil fills the pot. You can pat the soil down and include more soil. However, make sure it doesn’t extend past an inch from the top of the pot.
6. Remove Your Plant From Its Current Home
Place your hand at the core or base of your aloe vera and turn the pot it’s in upside down, gently massage the pot of the plant, and tug to remove it from the pot. Once the plant is out, place it on the old newspapers or cardboard you’ve gathered.
Carefully dislodge any old soil sticking to the roots of your aloe plant. If your plant has new shoots, make sure to clean the soil off of them as well. Once that’s done, put the new shoots on a different paper, so you can replant them somewhere else. Remember how in this case, you will need to gently and carefully pull the new shoots and overgrown aloe vera plant apart while ensuring that their roots are not damaged.
7. Transplant Your Aloe Vera
Once you’re done cleaning off the old soil, dig a sizeable hole in the compost using your trowel tool. You must be mindful that the hole is wide enough for the plant to fit in without hassle, and now that you have the hole that has been dug, gently place the adult plant into the hole.
8. Cover Up and Water the Plant
Now that your aloe plant has been successfully transplanted into the soil add more soil to cover up any gaps around the plant. Water the plant and make sure the water reaches the entire surface of the soil.
Be careful, and don’t water your aloe leaf but the base of the plant instead. Once you’re done, place your aloe in a spot where it’ll be exposed to sunlight but never under direct sunlight. Provide subsequent aloe vera plant care; your plant should grow with no issues, and it will establish well in its new home.
How to Transplant a Young Aloe Vera?
To transplant a young aloe vera, get young pups separated from their mother plant, making sure they recover from any wounds that might have been inflicted when cutting them, moving them to their new home, and allowing them to stay in indirect sunlight until they’re old enough to be transplanted.
1. Separate the Young Buds From Their Mother Plant
The first thing you must do when propagating aloe vera is to separate the young buds from their mother. You may opt to be doing so by making use of a sharp knife to cut them off.
Be detailed in this case when you cut them off from the adult plants, they retain some roots, and they have about an inch of the stem because this is how they will absorb their nutrients. The roots will enable excellent aloe vera growth as the young buds will need them to survive.
2. Leave Them in Indirect Sunlight
There’s a good chance the young buds will suffer from wounds when they are extracted from the main potted aloe. You want to leave them in indirect sunlight for a while for proper plant propagation. The duration depends on how fast the cuts calluses.
Calluses are plant tissues that are generated over wounds suffered by plants. These tissues protect the plant, prepare it for growth, and help prevent the generation of infections, so you must be steady and not cut them off. Therefore, make sure to leave the young buds in indirect sunlight until you see calluses on the cuts that were gotten from cutting them off of their mother plant.
3. Replant Them in Suitable Pots
Once the cuts callus, the next step is to propagate the young aloe vera plants in a new and suitable pot. The pot needs to have a drainage system, and the soil you’ll use should also be excellent at draining potting soil. Just as they are planted, place them in a spot where they can get indirect sunlight.
4. Water Them
When you propagate aloe vera plants, it’s vital that you gently provide them with enough water. Don’t try to water them every day. Instead, wait until the water you’ve poured on the soil is almost dried up before watering them again. Keep caring for your plants until they’re two to three inches tall, after which you can repot aloes.
Conclusion
Whether matured or young, transplanting aloe vera plants is a process that should be done as fast as possible to prevent aloe vera transplant shock. Below is a quick recap of everything we’ve discussed to make sure you have all you need to grow aloe vera successfully:
- Make sure you always choose well-draining soil when transplanting or propagating.
- Watering your adult aloe 24 hours before transplanting makes the plant softer and the process easier.
- Adding porous material to your pot helps prevent root rot and improves draining.
- Aloe is a plant that thrives in fairly dry soil, so make sure not to over-water your plant and provide it with adequate plant care.
- Never place your transplanted aloe in direct sunlight; keep them in spots where they can get indirect sunlight instead.
Whether you’re looking for how to split an aloe vera plant, how to cut and repot aloe vera, or how to transplant aloe vera cutting, the guide above is sure to be of help.
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