Receive New Gardening Articles By Email (Free Introductory Offer!)
Just sign up below to receive our new gardening articles full of handy hints for your garden. Your email address will not be shared and you can unsubscribe automatically any time - but we don't think you will want to!
Note: This free offer may end at any time.
Newest Additions
More Gardening Info
Bonsai for home or garden
Gardening Articles
Gardening Ideas By The Barrowload
The Versatile Aloe Vera Plant
See more in Garden Design
Used by hundreds of people globally, the aloe vera plant is well known in many households across the globe. Unlike many domesticated plants, the aloe vera plant no longer lives in the wild. It is currently only known to live in captivity or cultivated by farmers for domestic use. This alone makes the aloe vera different biology.
There are many properties of the aloe vera plant, ranging from the soothing of burns, the promotion of faster healing to the treatment of diabetes. Because of the special compounds in the plant, including acetylated mannans, polymannans, anthraquinone C-glycosides, anthrones and anthraquinones and lectins, aloe is to be added to a broad range of products to entice users to buy them.
The aloe vera plant is a succulent plant, growing in zones 8-10. It is suitable as an ornamental plant for low-water gardens, as well as indoors. Aloe does not tolerate snow or frost, dying under such conditions. If you want to keep aloe in chilly, it must be kept inside or in a greenhouse to prevent frost from killing it. Being a succulent, the aloe vera plant resembles cacti and other well known desert plants. As it is suited for dry climates, over watering is a common cause of death of this plant. As the aloe vera plant should only be fed when its soil is no longer moist, it is one of the easiest plants to tend. Only soil with good drainage should be used for potting aloe vera, as too much sitting water will cause root rot.
When incorporated into your home landscaping ideas for home use, the aloe vera plant is typically used as a surface treatment for burns and cuts. Studies are conflicked on aloe vera affects the rate of healing. There are some indicators that the rate of healing may be dependent on the type and depth of the wound, and how it is bandaged.Some studies state that the healing rate is slowed from aloe vera. Aloe vera may also be digested as a general cure.
Despite the lack of scientific proof on the increased healing and other properties of aloe vera, it has gained a good reputation by the average individual, granting the aloe vera plant a place in shampoos, lotions, soaps and a wide range of cosmetics. However, the gains garnered from the presence of aloe in these products is based on belief, not on scientific data.
The aloe vera plant is believed to have once come from in Africa, with cousins of the aloe vera plant still surviving to date. There are references to aloe in the bible, which makes it one of the oldest documented species of plants known.
Related Articles
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
For Your Garden
Gardening Heaven
What's Hot
Don't miss your chance to sign up for our gardening newsletter - it's up there on the left!