Aloe Adventures

Have I ever imagined myself as a plant person? Not really. But thinking about my grandma and all her plants… it was probably expected. It all started slowly with some potted basil and mint (although they didn’t last long; I need to learn how to care for them) and reached a special milestone with Aloe.

It was January 2020 when we received a tiny Aloe plantling from a very thriving plant that I gifted V about a year before. We learned the hard way that winter isn’t Aloe’s favourite season because the little plantling was very unhappy. With love, patience, and a bunch of research, when all hope was lost, it grew a little root. I planted it and then it grew and grew and grew.

After a while, we re-potted Big Aloe and, now, Tiny Aloe in a beautiful glass pot from IKEA. All was well until I started noticing that Big Aloe’s leaves were simply drying out. I moved it away from the direct sunlight, then into the sunlight, I watered it less and then I watered it more, but nothing seemed to make it happy. A few days ago, I learned that either the glass was overheating the plant or it wasn’t allowing enough drainage, so we bought a new pot. This morning I discovered with horror that Big Aloe had rotten roots. I cleaned it, repotted it, and I shall be taking extra care of it, hopefully, it will survive this time too.

I have other plants - a cactus, a little succulent, and some lavender (that makes me extremely anxious and I feel like I messed it up, but that’s a story for another day) - but Aloe is special. I’m also planning to buy some of the sad discounted IKEA plants, and see if I can make their lives better. Today I just wanted to share with you the Aloe Adventures.