Aloe Vera is one of the most broadly utilized plants in medicine and in beauty products out there. It´s also a succulent that is quite easy to grow even if you are a complete beginner. All of that and more is the reason why so many households have at least one Aloe Vera plant.
But in order to use the aloe vera extract, the plant has to be cut. Or, to be more precise, one oft he stems (leaves) oft he plant hast o be cut off at least partially. At this point, most Aloe Vera owners start asking themselves „What happens if I cut parts of my Aloe? Does it grow back or do I harm the Plant if I cut it?“
Well in this article I will answer these questions to the best of my ability to help you grow a healthy Aloe Vera Plant.
Aloe Vera leaves that were cut off will not grow back. Instead, the Plant will replace them by growing new stems in the center of the plant. It can take anywhere between two months and half a year before the new stem is big enough to be cut.
How Much Can I Cut Off My Aloe Vera Plant?
Don´t worry, even though the cut leaf will not grow back the plant will produce a new leaf right away.
This is also why I highly recommend cutting the leaf very far down at the bottom of the leaf close to the soil.
The leave will never grow back, it will only seal itself up and in some cases, it will become slightly brownish (nothing to worry about).
This is why it doesn´t make any sense to cut it at the tip or halfway down the leaf.
Cutting it at its base will also make sure that the aloe vera plant will produce a new leaf to replace the leaf that you cut off.
So if you want to cut a leaf then cut off the whole leaf and not just parts o fit otherwise the plant might not produce a new stem.
But How Many Leaves can you cut off before damaging the Aloe Vera permanently?
Well, that is kind of hard to say. It entirely depends on how big and how healthy your plant is.
But if you have a medium-sized Aloe Vera plant that has between 8 and 12 leaves then you can easily cut off leaves until you have around 6 or 8 left.
You should always cut the most outer leaves first unless there are brown leaves or shriveled up leaves. You should always remove any dead parts of the plant first.
There is an amazing guide on how to cut back Aloe Vera on WikiHow that will show you exactly how to properly cut an Aloe Vera.
How Long Does it Take For Aloe Vera to Grow Back?
Obviously, after cutting some leaves off your Aloe Vera you might be wondering how long it might take until the plant has grown new leaves to replace the ones that you cut off.
It is kind of hard to say because it really depends on how healthy and how big your plant is.
But in general, a new aloe leaf will grow back to medium size in a time period of about three to five months. It depends on how healthy and big the plant is and if another leaf was cut off recently which would force the plant to grow a new leaf faster.
There are ways that you can speed up the growing process of your Aloe Vera.
So if you want to speed grow your Aloe Vera all you have to do is giving the plant the best possible growing conditions.
This includes watering the plant regularly, giving the plant the best possible Soil, and placing the Aloe Vera in a warm and partially sunny spot.
The best soil for Aloe Vera is sandy soil with a neutral PH. You can also use succulent soil to grow Aloe Vera.
The right kind of soil will guarantee that the Plant has everything it needs in order to grow healthy and fast.
You should place your Aloe Vera in a spot where it gets partial sunlight. Direct sunlight might be too much for your Aloe Vera and it can do more harm than good.
So place your Aloe Vera in a spot where it gets around 3 to 4 hours of sunlight each day.
Make sure that you only water your Aloe Vera once every other week. Too much water can cause the roots of the plant to rot.
So make sure that any access water can drain from the soil and don´t water your Aloe Vera too much.
If you follow all of these basic tips to grow a healthy Aloe Vera plant then it will thrive and grow new leaves fast.