Aloe vera
Aloe vera
A succulent wanting the brightest windowsill in the house and very little water, which is the opposite of how most people treat it. A healthy aloe has thick upright leaves; one with thin floppy leaves splaying outwards is short of light, and one with soft translucent leaves is being overwatered.
- Position
- Bright with direct sun
- Water
- low demand
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Grows to
- 30–60 cm × 30–60 cm
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Difficulty
- Straightforward
Described view
Three aloe plants side by side: a healthy one with thick upright leaves, a light-starved one with thin leaves splaying flat outwards, and an overwatered one with soft translucent yellowing leaves
August
Nothing to do
No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.
Aloe vera’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take cuttings | May. | June. | July. |
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Full sun
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Grows best at
- 15–27 °C
- Soil
- Sandy, Peat-free compost
- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Water needs
- low
- Drought
- good tolerance
- Waterlogging
- poor tolerance
- Heat
- good tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- moderate tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Aloe vera — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Works, with one condition | Aloe vera will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Sandy | Prefers this soil | Sandy suits Aloe vera as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Grows well here | Aloe vera grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits Aloe vera as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits Aloe vera as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Peaty and acid | Works, with one condition | Aloe vera will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Shallow over rock | Prefers this soil | Shallow over rock suits Aloe vera as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Works, with one condition | Aloe vera will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 30–60 cm
- Mature spread
- 30–60 cm
- Rooting depth
- 15 cm
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
In a container
- Minimum volume
- 3 litres or more
- Minimum depth
- 15 cm
Where the container figures come from
- Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
A shallow wide pot suits the shallow root system better than a deep one, and dries out faster, which is what aloe wants.
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor pot | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Windowsill | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Indoors, or outdoors in summer only |
| Greenhouse | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Open ground | Not suitablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors. |
| Hydroponics | Not suitablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 |
Growing it
- WateringSoft, translucent or mushy leaves mean overwatering and usually root rot; thin, flat leaves splaying outwards mean too little light. The two are frequently confused, and watering a light-starved plant more makes it worse.
- ProtectionIt can go outside in a sunny sheltered spot from June to September, which improves it considerably. Introduce it to full sun gradually — a plant moved straight from a windowsill to outdoors scorches within days.
- FeedingFeed rarely and weakly, or not at all. A half-strength balanced liquid feed two or three times across the whole summer is plenty, and many well-grown aloes are never fed and simply repotted every second or third spring instead. Stop completely from September: a fed plant in low winter light makes pale, soft, stretched leaves that flop outward from the centre and never firm up again. If an aloe has lost its tight rosette and gone leggy, the cause is light rather than nutrition, and feeding it makes it worse.
- TransplantingRepot in spring every two or three years into gritty free-draining compost — a loam-based mix with a third of horticultural grit is right, and ordinary multipurpose on its own holds far too much water. Go up one pot size only; an aloe in an oversized pot sits in cold wet compost it cannot use. This is also when to detach the offsets crowding the base, which root readily if left to callus for a few days first. Do not repot between October and March.
Where this guidance comes from
- WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe — care
Checked 2026-08-13
- ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe — summer care
Checked 2026-08-13
- FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
- TransplantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
Safety and edibility
Listed as harmful to cats or dogs
Aloe vera is listed as harmful if eaten. The yellow latex just beneath the leaf skin contains anthraquinone glycosides, which are powerful laxatives. Eaten by a cat or dog they cause vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy and sometimes a change in urine colour. The clear inner gel is not the problem; the latex layer is.source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Aloe vera — toxic plants list
Checked 2026-08-13
Affected parts: leaf, sap.
- Pets and livestockpetsThe yellow latex just beneath the leaf skin contains anthraquinones and is a powerful laxative. Eaten by cats or dogs it causes vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy. The clear inner gel is the part used topically and is far less of a concern.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Aloe vera — toxicity
Checked 2026-08-13
Keep it out of reach of pets. Contact a vet if a pet has eaten a quantity of leaf rather than just the gel.
- PreparationThe yellow latex is a strong laxative and is not safe to eat. Oral consumption of whole-leaf aloe preparations has been associated with adverse effects, and this record does not cover medicinal use.
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Aloe vera
Checked 2026-08-13
GrowingHQ covers growing this plant, not using it medicinally. Do not eat the leaf, and treat internal use as a question for a pharmacist or doctor rather than a gardening site.
Sources for this page
GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Plants of the World Online · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.
If something is wrong with it
- Lower leaves turning yellow — 2 causes GrowingHQ holds for aloe vera
Something else? Work through it with the diagnostic tool.