Aloe Aloe - Every Home Should Have Some
The Aloe Vera plant has been called by many other names throughout history. Some of the more common names it has been referred to as include “Living First Aid Plant”, “Burn Plant”, “Medicine Plant”, “Divine Healer”, “Plant of Immortality”, “Lily of the Desert”, “The Wand of Heaven”.It is also known by it’s botanical name Aloe vera barbadensis (or sometimes Aloe barbadensis).
For some time now, I have wanted to grow my own Aloe Vera plant. It has to be one of the handiest plants for saving money on medical supplies. I FINALLY have 2!!! For a grand cost of ….NOTHING!!!! It took me some time but I eventually found sombody with their own plant who potted up not 1 but 2 plants for me!!! 
Gotta love a freebie! Especially a freebie that could well SAVE me quite a bit of money over the long term!I have been doing some research into the benefits and uses of Aloe Vera. I figured while I was doing the research, it might be helpful to put together a blog post about the benefits of Aloe Vera. A lot of these are anecdotal benefits (there haven’t been scientific studies done to “verify” them). Please use some common sense and caution when first using Aloe Vera in case you or your family members have some sensitivity to it.
External Benefits:
skin moisturiser
relief of sunburn
anti-inflammatory
promotes healing
relief for burns
insect stings
itchy rashes
antimicrobal
relief from eczema & psoriasis
relief from acne
aids healing of scrapes and abrasions
scalp care
sore muscles
cold sores
bruises
sprains
arthritis
anti-ageing (apparently Cleopatra used to bathe in Aloe Vera juice to help maintain her youthful appearance)
Internal Benefits:
aids digestion
assists with bowel problems
lower cholesterol levels
fight infection
reduce inflammation
absorb toxins
heal ulcers
aid circulation
alkalises digestive juices which can aid indigestion
aid immune system
GROWING YOUR OWN
This link provides a detailed explanation on how to care for and grow your own Aloe Vera plant. I learnt the hard way that they don’t like frosts. My first attempt at growing a plant from a cutting in our garden some years ago met with limited success as the plant curled up it’s toes at the first frost. Apparently they are 95% water which is why they don’t like frosts. Interesting that they are able to survive on fairly low levels of watering though. They obviously hold onto their water well. I’m sure the shape of the leaf and the thickness of it’s outer coating have something to do with that!
Now I’m growing a couple of plants in pots and so far they seem to be growing and thriving well. They seem to thrive on neglect which makes them a perfect plant for me to grow!!! 
I tip a bit of water into mine occasionally and they seem fine. If I put the pots outside though, they need a lot more care and attention (I’m assuming due to a higher temperature and evaporation rate).
HARVESTING THE GEL FROM YOUR HOME GROWN PLANT
One of the great benefits of growing your own aloe vera plant is that you have fresh gel on hand at all times. In my opinion, fresh is always going to better than a bottled product that has had to be stabilised in order to give it some kind of shelf life. The down-side is that the juice surrounding the Aloe Vera gel can cause skin and bowel irritations in some people. To apply externally, some people simply break off a piece of the plant and apply the opened flesh to the wound. This is fine if you don’t have sensitive skin.
For those with sensitive skin or who would like to make use of the gel as an internal tonic, the following link provides step by step instructions on
How to Harvest Fresh Aloe Vera Gel
It also provides some explanation of various parts of the plant and which parts are of benefit to us as humans. The writer recommends harvesting a leaf when it is the size of your forearm. I grow my aloe vera in a pot so it’s not likely to get that big. I guess the point is the larger the leaf, the more gel you can harvest from it.
WHY I CHOOSE TO GROW MY ALOE VERA PLANTS INSIDE
I wanted to try growing an Aloe Vera plant in our bedroom as I read somewhere that it is a good plant for removing toxins from the air and aiding a restful sleep. Any plant will help to do this but those with a rubbery leaf texture like Aloe Vera are known to be particularly good at attracting dust particles. Plants also produce negative ions which are good for improving mood (so a MUST for me LOL).
I currently have 1 plant in our bedroom and 1 in the dining room (close to the kitchen).
Here are some links to articles on the benefits of indoor house plants:
Happy, Healing, Healthy Houseplants
Air Cleaning House Plants (mentions that Aloe will remove formaldehyde from the air)
Other interesting links
If you would like to read more on the benefits and uses of Aloe Vera, you might enjoy some of these links:
Herbal Information Centre - Aloe Vera
I hope you’ve found this article interesting and helpful. I’d love to hear of your own experiences with growing aloe vera and how you’ve made use of it’s many healing properties.
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Love aloe vera, tea tree oil and my stepfather’s homemade ginseng cream.
We have several aloe vera plants growing wild in the garden - but I’m *head hung low, shuffling feet* sorry to report that I have never used them. Your post has made me feel like investigating their condition. Thank you
Thanks for sharing this! I have aloe plants and just snap off a leaf and rub it on sunburn. There’s so much more I can do with it!
I have one right near the vegie patch. I just do as Kendall does… snap an end off and rub it on my skin when I burn myself.
Fantastic stuff.
I have a largish aloe that my daughter gave me. She pulled off a baby from her plant and I brought it home, it grew really well while hers then died. So when mine had babies I potted one up for her and it grew well until she planted it out, then it started dying so she put it back in a pot, now it’s almost as big as mine and both plants have babies. I’m with Frogdancer and kendall, as soon as I burn my hand on the oven (rarely) I snap off a leaf, slice it open and rub it on. Pain disappears and no blister forms.
Heheh… Allo Allo… I loved that show when I was a kid, all I can remember now is an ugly married french dude having a disturbing amount of luck with sexy young french females
Oh yeah, your post - good info-gathering effort! A drop of lavender oil in aloe vera gel enhances the anti-burn effect.
Hey Kendall - glad it was helpful! Think I owe you an email yeah? Thanks for your offer - we travel 2009. So a little way off yet.
Frogdancer - I was getting a bit worried about what I was reading about the yellowish-brown juice affecting skin so it’s interesting to know others have found the snap and rub method works well.
River - seems they can be hardy plants and yet temperamental at times too!
Naomi - I’m not sure if I ever saw it but the Allo, Allo has always stuck in my head. I was trying to come up with a catchy heading. Something I find a challenge! Interesting about the Lavender Oil.
Can I just vouch for the fact that the Aloe Vera plant must be the hardiest on this planet. It’s about the only plant to have survived my lack of TLC.
When I traveled to Queensland I had a horrible sun burn (my own fault really!). My host had a large aloe plant on their deck, they removed an entire leaf ( it was a bad burn) rubbed some on my skin then placed the rest of it in the fridge…..a few hours later when it was ICE COLD it was smeared all over my burn and felt like HEAVEN!
I was unaware that aloe could remove toxins in the air, I currently have mine in the kitchen as it’s the one room that gets enough light for them.
Thanks for the info!
Cheers,
Maggie
Meg - well I did manage to kill my very first one. ;-)Although it was actually a frost that did that so a little out of my control.
Maggie - great tip about the chilled aloe gel!!! I’ll have to remember that one! Thanks for sharing.
[...] us a very comprehensive guide to the benefits of Aloe Vera along with tips on growing your own. Aloe Aloe - Every Home Should Have Some That must have taken some time to put together, Lightening, thank [...]
You have me sold on the idea of growing my own and I have some empty pots and soil just waiting for my attention. Thanks for such an informative post, lightening.
You’re welcome Sueblimely. Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
I hope you get lots of fun and success from growing your own! I know I am!!! 
Hey L
my kids grew up having Aloe Vera rubbed on them for EVERYTHING and there was always an arm in the fridge. We also grew them EVERWHERE and they saved us from many a bull ant sting because we could get the gel on immediately.
I love them.
Did you know you can even buy commercialised Aloe Vera juice….YUK, I prefer Champagne for my digestion!
Thanks for joining us in the Carnival of Australia again.
Wow so many benefits Lightening - do you offer a print this post button ?
Where might I get a Aloe Vera plant ?
Megan - bull ant bites are horrible!!!!! Fortunately we don’t have *too* many around here (not close to the house anyway) but I remember being bitten as a child. Yeah, I’ve tried Aloe juice - it’s not very nice. I have been putting a tiny piece of aloe gel in our drinking water which has been nice. You can hardly taste it - just gives it a “fresher” taste (bit like the tiniest squeeze of lemon).
Trish - a print post button….now there’s an idea. No idea on that front. The best way to get your own Aloe plant is to find someone who has one and get some from them. Apparently it’s quite easy to grow from a cutting but I’m not very knowledgable on that front. Failing that, most nurseries sell them. Or if you can find a school or church fete or a market you might find a plant cheaper that way.
[...] Lightening : Aloe Aloe - Every Home Should Have Some [...]
Your step-by-step harvesting instructions with pictures was most helpful. I accidentally broke a leaf off and immiedately thought that surely I could do something good with it but didn’t know what…so I got the gel harvested. However, I don’t think I’m ready for smoothies just yet, but is is possible to “store” the gel for future use for cuts and burns? Is it as simple as storing it in a zip lock bag in the fridge or will it loose it’s healing properties?
Thanks.
Hi Kimberley - I have to admit I don’t know for sure. I would imagine the best value would be when it is fresh but like most vegies, would keep for a few days.
hi
Thanks for sharing this! I have aloe plants and just snap off a leaf and rub it on sunburn. There’s so much more I can do with it!
So helpful since i have cancer.Really enjoyed this info.