From the family of Aloe and cousin of aloe vera, today we are going to talk about Aloe arborescens.
It is one of the two hundred varieties of the Aloe plant.
This plant is well known for having great medicinal properties.
It resembles a cactus and produces beautiful red flowers in winter.
This is a plant worth having for its great properties.
If you want to learn to take care of it and know it in depth, you just have to keep reading
General characteristics
It is native to South Africa.
It has quite remarkable characteristics to provide the human body with a complete range of phytonutrients.
Also, it has nutraceutical properties to keep the immune system healthier.
It helps us greatly to eliminate waste particles that the body stores by default.
When our body is altered, Aloe arborescens returns the body to a normal state and functions.
It is a well-known plant on the Mediterranean coast.
It can multiply and grow at an accelerated pace without any care. The same goes for the rest of your family’s aloes.
This makes it widely used in gardening.
It is also known by the name of octopus.
Unlike the rest of Aloes, it grows as a bush.
It can reach up to 4 meters high, which makes it a huge shrub.
Its leaves grow in the form of a rosette and are elongated and fleshy.
The flowers are intense scarlet orange, are usually erect and when they open they lean down.
As for its fruit, it is contained in a capsule and usually has enough seeds.
Flowering takes place in winter.
Tips to take care of the Aloe Arborescens “Candelabra Aloe”
For this specimen to grow properly, it needs a sandy soil that has good drainage.
If we do not want it to start to wilt and end up rotting, we should avoid excess water.
Watering it in abundance until it is completely soaked, the only thing we achieve make the plant go to the danger zone.
It is quite resistant to drought, so if we see that it is dry, we should not worry much.
Illumination
As for the amount of light you need, it is better to have them in direct light or semi-shade.
If you are not getting all the light you need, it will turn brown.
This is an indication that the plant is not completely healthy.
It will help us to know if the care we are giving you is the ideal.
Fertilizer
Many amateur gardeners think that plants require a lot of nutrients.
Therefore, they use large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers.
However, Aloe arborescens does not need fertilizer.
With using some fertilizers in the time of spring growth is enough.
Watering
To avoid drowning it unnecessarily, just water it once a week.
But you only have to water in the summer.
In winter it can withstand the humidity of the environment and rainwater.
Temperature
If you live in a colder region, you should keep in mind that it does not resist frost of up to -4 degrees.
Below these temperatures will die. If we want to reproduce the plant it can be done through seeds and cuttings.
It can be placed and adapted perfectly in pots, as in balconies and gardens.
All these features make Aloe arborescens widely used.
Medicinal uses of Aloe arborescens
As mentioned before, this plant has very beneficial characteristics for health.
Due to its narrow leaves and its smaller amount of gel, it is hardly used industrially.
However, for home use, it can come in handy.
Many studies state that the consumption of this plant in different ways
helps against cell proliferation.
In a study conducted on 240 patients, it was demonstrated
as the octopus plant was able to help against the effects of chemotherapy by increasing its effectiveness and increasing tumor reduction.
It is ideal for the following uses:
It works as an antibiotic, astringent, moisturizer, anti-inflammatory skin.
It is excellent for the treatment of burns of various types. This is because it promotes healing and reduces microbial growth.
For those with acne, this plant relieves insect bites, eczema, and wounds.
It is also good to avoid wrinkles and dryness. It is considered, together with Aloe Vera as one of the best natural cosmetic products.
It is excellent for hair care.
It helps keep the immune system healthy.
It allows the elimination of waste particles in the body and to detoxify.
It is excellent for the treatment of constipation, gastritis and ulcers.
Fights and relieves hemorrhoids.
It is ideal for muscle bumps and sprains.
Improves the effects of chemotherapy.
If we want to get the benefits of this octopus plant we need to apply them in creams, massage fluids, body lotions, skin masks or facial cleansers.
These products are manufactured from the gel that is obtained from its leaves.
Ornamental use
Apart from its medicinal uses, it is also used as ornamentation.
Its flower has a very intense and precious color that makes it a decorative tool.
If you put it in the garden you will have a great landscape with fairly simple maintenance.
Also, this plant is perfect if you want to attract insects like butterflies and bees that pollinate other plants.
These insects are attracted by the taste of delicious nectar.
It also attracts some birds.
If you have taken good care of the plant, in winter, this succulent will generate some incredible and large flowers of a deep red.
These will be born from the center of each rosette in long stems finished in corsages of about 20 or 30 centimeters.
Since this plant produces many branches, it is possible that every winter you get a large number of these amazing and big red flowers in your garden.
Propagation
Like his sisters, the multiplication of aloe arborescens can be done by
Cuttings or seeds.
Although the seed method is much more complete and beautiful, we recommend carrying out this process through cuttings, since you will get replicas the same as the mother and the probability of failure is almost nil.
To reproduce this plant through this method you will have to separate one of the basal plants that the acibar generates when it has reached maturity.
Remove it, let the wound dry for 24 hours and plant it in a pot with a specific substrate and clean, watering it normally.
Diseases
When growing an aloe arborescens you have to be careful with certain vital aspects such as irrigation and the type of substrate to avoid the most common evil, fungi.
Usually, with an excess watering, the stem rots.
Giving the plant an appearance wrinkled and straight.
Unfortunately, if there are already symptoms of rot on the stem, there is not much to do.
So I recommend being cautious with water.
Trust your plant, she can take care of herself almost alone.
Pots
Succulents are plants that usually need some space to grow.
Therefore, if you Aloe arnorescens does not grow, it will be sending you signals to have pot transplants.
Do not worry, when you do it and give it enough credit, it will grow like never before.
Fun facts It is said that Aloe comes from the Greek “Alos” or “Als”, which means “salt”. It was believed that the spines of Aloe drove away evil spirits, so they were placed at the entrance of houses and gardens.
Hope this article was helpful.