Aloe is one of the most resistant and powerful plants in the plant kingdom. However, unless you are very interested, it is common for you not to know the different varieties, such as aloe humilis, one of the types of aloe that will most attract your attention.
But what is aloe humilis like? What features does it have? And your care? We will talk about all of this below.
How is aloe humilis
The first thing you should know about aloe humilis is that we are talking about a succulent. It is native to South Africa, and in its natural habitat it grows in rocky and arid areas.
What most characterizes this plant are its leaves, which, unlike other plants, are fleshy and elongated, as well as narrow. In fact, At first they are very narrow and as they grow they increase in thickness, but not too much.
All the leaves grow upright and in a certain way because they form basal rosettes.
If you are lucky because you have given it good care, you can find its flowers, very showy. These will appear especially at the end of winter and early spring.. To do this, the first thing that will come out is a floral rod that will measure about 35 centimeters. From it will come the tubular flowers, which will easily reach five centimeters in length. They are in orange that is combined with yellow and white.
Basic care for aloe humilis
Having aloe humilis at home is super easy. But that doesn't mean you don't have to take care of anything either. It is true that it is a very difficult plant to "kill", because it adapts to everything and endures everything.
Now, If you do not provide the necessary care, you may find that, little by little, you lose that vitality that you have, or that it weakens to the point that it does not grow, on the contrary, it begins to diminish.
Therefore, here we talk about the main points that you should take into account.
Location and temperature
Aloe humilis is a plant that can be both indoors and outdoors. Although, if we had to recommend a place, it would be outside the home, like other plants.
If what you want is for it to grow very well, strong and fast, try to locate it in an area where it receives many hours of sunlight. Inside the house it will also grow, but much less.
Regarding temperature, aloe humilis is a plant that tolerates both hot and cold weather. However, if these temperatures drop below zero degrees, you may have a serious problem because frost does take a toll on its health.
Substratum
Aloe humilis can be planted in the garden or in a pot (outdoors or indoors). But what is clear is that if you want it to have all the nutrients, you have to provide it with what it needs.
In this case it is recommended to use special substrate for cacti and succulents. But, in addition, that a little more drainage is added, to make sure that the water does not accumulate when watering it.
If you have it in a pot, check that it has drainage holes and that they are not clogged so that the water can escape easily. Besides, after a while you will have to transplant it (although it is not fast growing).
Irrigation
Like all succulents, watering aloe humilis is not as frequent as with other plants. In general, you have to wait for the soil to dry out quite well before you start watering again.
However:
In spring and summer it is possible that a watering every 7-10 days is more than enough. Depending on the climate where you live, you should increase or decrease it.
In autumn you have to increase the time between waterings.
In winter it is not watered. This is done to avoid humidity, since if it affects it, the plant will rot very quickly and in the end it can get sick from fungi, other diseases... It could even affect its flowering.
Pruning
The truth is that aloe humilis does not need pruning. But it is not entirely true. And it is that, when the leaves dry, it would not be a bad thing to remove them to avoid that they can be a focus of infection of pests and / or diseases.
Plagues and diseases
In this case, for aloe humilis, you should be careful mainly for the latter. And it is that you can find brown spots (or as if it had holes from being eaten), light colored markings appearing on the leaves, or problems with lighting.
Reproduction
Finally, the multiplication of aloe humilis is done mainly through suckers. It is enough to cut one of the "daughters" and put it to form roots. Of course, do not put it immediately; it is best to wait a few days for the wound to heal and thus it will not rot from the water.
It will take a few weeks to create the roots and when you see that it has enough you can put it in a pot (if you had it in water), or leave it where you planted it.
Medicinal uses of aloe humilis
One of the big doubts that many have when buying an aloe humilis is whether it will have the same medicinal uses as aloe vera. And the truth is that, although we have investigated to give you an answer, For sure, we cannot tell you yes or no.
That is to say, many refer that aloe humilis would have the same medicinal uses as aloe vera. But there are many more who haven't really tried it because they consider it more of an ornamental plant than a curative one.
Even so, we have dug deeper and have seen how this aloe is referred to as a pain reliever for the skin (wounds, burns, etc.). It can also be used to cleanse the colon. as well as to eliminate piles and hemorrhoids.
In general, reference is made above all to the application of its "pulp" on wounds and burns, with effects very similar to those of aloe vera itself.
Therefore, although it may have medicinal uses, the fact that it has not been used so much makes us think that it should be tried.
Did you know aloe humilis?