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Monday, March 10, 2014

How to Replant Aloe Vera Pups

I discovered the world of succulents late last year and they instantly became one of my favourite plants. If a plant wants to survive in my house, it has to be hardy and easy to care for and that's exactly what succulents are. Plus, they eventually grow baby plants that you can separate and grow as a whole new plant. Free plants!

Just before we left for Toronto, we bought a new aloe vera plant so we asked a friend to care for it while we were away. When I brought it back home, I discovered these mini aloe vera plants growing around the original plant. A quick Google search told me those baby aloe vera plants are called pups. How cute!


Pups need to be separated from the original plant, or they will rob the original plant of nutrients. This was the perfect opportunity for me to get some new houseplants as my succulents were lost when they blew over in a storm while we were away. Since I already had the containers, all I had to do was transplant those pups.

So, the first order of business was to separate the pups from the mother plant. I found the easiest way to do this was using a fork to help wiggle them out of the dirt. Some of the pups were easier to remove than others.


One of the pups had developed a pretty good root system. The other two had little root-like structures growing so I think they'll be like the succulents I had and develop them as they sit in the soil. Like other succulents, if the pup has a wound site, it needs to be dried for a few days before it can be planted or it will rot.


I planted each pup into a little pot of a soil-sand mixture, gave them a little bit of water and they were good to go.



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