Aloe vera Propagation and Transplanting

New plants

My mother has a large Aloe vera plant in a container on the patio. She wanted me to help her separate some of the new plants that had grown off the main plant. Apparently this is something you do yearly since she had a bunch of pups from last year all along the side of the wall. In helping her out, I learned more about the aloe plant and how it grows.

The mother plant and her pups

In order to separate the individual plants, the entire plant had to first be removed from the container.

Don't worry the plant will survive the dump

Once dumped, the root structure of the main plant and the little pups is visible. Using a trowel, soil was removed from areas around the plants.

Now that it's out of the pot you can see how the pups are attached to the mother plant

It is ok to be aggressive with the plant because the roots need to be detached from the main plant. As long as roots are hanging off the pups, the plant will survive. The way aloe propagates is similar to strawberry plants, except the runners grow underneath the main plant instead of above ground.

The root system is very unique

One of the larger ones

We got 9 pups from this plant. That's a lot of aloe vera!

Got about 9 new plants

The new plants can then be placed into separate containers. It'll take some time for the plants to adjust, so be patient. Remember that aloe is a succulent and should never be over-watered. If you have an aloe vera plant, repeat the process yearly to have an unlimited amount of aloe plants. I have yet to try extracting the pulp, but I may try doing so later.

Unlimited plants