Aloe Vera Greenhouse: The Beginning

 

Mother Plant

    

Dried Aloe Vera Stalk off of Mother Plant

  This mother plant is the source of it all. When I bought her at a local tree nursery she had already gone through her annual reproductive cycle. In late winter to mid-summer (depending on climate) a mature Aloe will send up a tall, slender flower spike from the center of its rosette of leaves topped with a cluster of small, yellow tubular flowers. This stalk was already old and dry without any seed pods when the plant was purchased; however, Aloe also reproduces asexually. During asexual reproduction of Aloe, vegetative plant "pups" will grow alongside the mother plant at her base. At the time of purchase this mother plant came with 16 "pups" growing at her base. Transplantation of these pups was required immediately, as the small nursery pot that contained the mother was severely overcrowded.
Below: image of all transplanted "pups" with mother plant; with the exception of two small pups still attached to the mother plant

The nursery can be divided into three main classes based on size and maturity:

Class 1

Class one is made up of 9 of the smallest pups. It is always best to give each plant its own nursery container for easier transplantation and an overall healthier plant. Given my limited supplies I had to group several together. The first few days after being separated from the mother plant these pups went through transplant shock(not uncommon when transplanting any plant regardless of maturity). Discoloration along with overall lack of vigor and growth occurred for a few days until the pups found their rooting and began to resume normal health and growth. This class ended up being the most prone to this shock, probably due to the pups immaturity; nevertheless, all of the pups are still alive. As you can see from the picture some are much larger than others; they will have to be separated and transplanted soon. 

Class 2

Class two is made up of 4 of the largest pups. They were probably some of the first pups to sprout out from the mother plant considering their advanced maturity. Due to limited supplies these pups were originally growing together in a single nursery pot after I removed them from the mother plant. About a week ago I transplanted them for the second time into the pots they reside in now. When i began the second transplantation process the roots of the five plants were in a tangled mass and required great care in separation so minimal damage would occur. They showed very little traces of transplant shock with the exception of a minimal decrease in growth; normal growth rates should resume in another week or two.

Class three is reserved for sexually mature plants. Currently the only adult plant in the nursery is the mother.

The plant circled in red is un-categorized, it is too large to be placed in class one and too small to be placed in class too. Its rate of growth and development will determine which class it is later placed in. This categorization based on size will later prove helpful when it comes time to begin fertilization.

                                                                                        ~Gabby
                                                                            The Green Project 2013