A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Aloe Question

I have an aloe that is doing good, and its sending out babies at the bottom. On another post someone said that if you leave them on, the mother will get the energy sucked out of it. Is that true? And if so when/how do i cut the babies?

Not true. I have a pot of about 10 aloe of varying sizes that started as one offset. The original (Mom-plant) is still the largest and growing strongly. The first offsets are offsetting, and I have no intention of splitting up this group. This is the way they live in nature, in large colonies. If you want to pot up a baby or two separately, just pull them gently from as low as you can. They'll break off, maybe with a root or two already if they were largish babies. Let them dry out in the shade for 2 or 3 days to heal over the break, then pot and grow as normal; a fast draining soil, not too much water, and plenty of direct sun light. Sounds like yours is happy. Good going!

I have about 25 aloe plants in my house. You can leave the babies attached to the mother, but eventually the pot will get so crowded the will start deforming because of the lack of space. Make sure you have the mother planted in a wide enough pot if you are planing to leave the babies attacked to the mother.

Good Luck

Thanks for the info!