Don’t be surprised to see the aloe flower; it is the same aloe vera flower ranging from white to yellow and red in color.
Aloe vera plants rarely bloom when grown indoors, but those grown outdoors can bear beautiful flowers if provided with sufficient water, sunlight, and fertilizer.
Generally, aloe plants contain a cluster of trumpet-shaped flowers at the apex of the flowering stem and bloom from late winter until early spring and last for around two months. Besides decor benefits, aloe flowers contribute to purifying the air and skin care.
The aloe blooms lack the essentialities to be a flower- fragrance; however, its charming appearance will compel you to make your mouth open in awe.
So if you are curious about how you can leverage the aloe flowers, do not leave this article until you finish it.
Table of Contents
How Often Does the Aloe Flower?
Aloe plants are a species found in arid desert conditions, confusing you about how they can produce blossoms.
However, aloe flowers produce blossoms all the way round as they are perennials, especially in early spring to late summer.
There are 580 species of aloe, and each aloe needs to be at least four years of age to produce flowers.
If you provide your Aloe with its needs, you can see buds in your Aloe in late winter that will open into small, tubular bell-shaped flowers that will last for at least two to three months before they die.
Overview of Aloe Flower
Besides, the tubular flowers soar from the bottom up on the inflorescence, forming a beautiful cluster of blooms giving a feeling that it is rising above without looking below.
You can learn more interesting facts about the flowers from the table below.
| Indicator | Identity |
|---|---|
| Flower Structure | Flowers pedicellate, erect in bud, pendent at anthesis, or secund |
| Flower Size | 1-3 inches |
| Flower Shape | Tubular |
| Flower Color | Yellow, Orange, Pink, or Red |
| Fragrance | No smell |
| Blooming Season | End of winter to early spring |
| Lifespan | 2-3 months |
| Toxicity | Toxic to animals |
The flower color in your Aloe depends on which species you are planting, and you can choose colors ranging from white, orange, yellow, and even red inflorescences.
Pollination of Aloe Flower
Pollination in Aloe is tricky as the anthers prepare pollens much earlier than the Stigma becomes receptive, which makes them self-incompatible.
Besides, the tubular flowers produce nectar rather than spreading their fragrance, requiring pollinators with a long beak. So, aloe flowers rely on pollinators like hummingbirds and sunbirds.
Once the flowers are pollinated, they eventually dry out, and the dried remains become seed pods or capsules that are brown-green in color.
As the seed pods mature during late-winter to early spring, they split open revealing the winged-seeds that you can extract manually using your hands before they blow away.
However, you can manually pollinate Aloe’s flowers if there are no or fewer pollinators around. You can follow the instructions below to boost your plant in pollination.
- Try to pollinate Aloe within four days after it has shown blooms during the daytime.
- Get either a Q-tip or a small paintbrush.
- Pick a fresh flower with lots of pollen in it.
- Take the pollen from a new/fresh flower and apply its pollen to an older flower.
- With the help of the Q-tip, rub the pollen from the stamen of one flower onto the stigma of another.
After the pollination, the plant produces seed capsules that must be split open at maturity to collect the seeds.
How to Make an Aloe Plant Flower?
The Aloe plants are native to deserted climates, so you must ensure that the climate is conducive to blooming.
Here are the different caring requirements necessary for the Aloe to flower.
- Use a potting mix that drains effectively, such as one meant for succulents and cacti. An ideal mixture should include perlite, lava rock, coarse sand, or any combination of the three.
- The ideal light requirement can be an indirect bright light for 6 hours daily.
- You can set the temperatures between 55 and 80°F (13 and 27°C) for aloe.
- Keep the temperature around 40-50% to offer optimum growth.
- You need to allow the soil to dry at least 1 to 2 inches deep in between waterings to prevent rot. On average, water once every three weeks and less frequently in the winter.
- Fertilize sparingly (no more than once a month) and only in the spring and summer with a balanced houseplant formula mixed at ½ strength.
Aloe plants include pups that develop off the main plant, so you need to remove these pups if you want to see the plant blooming.
By removing the extra bulbs or pups, you will give the main plant the additional energy needed to produce beautiful and tall spiky stems of aloe flowers.
Essentially, the Aloe plant blooms only when they age, so you need patience. They need to be at least four years old to blossom.
So if your Aloe plant is not blooming, chances are that it may not have reached that stage in its life.
What Should You Do with Aloe Flower?
Aloes are healthy succulents that can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions. They do not die after flowering. Instead, they will continue to grow even after the flower stalk blooms.
Pruning aloe flowers will not damage the plant but instead will encourage the plant to grow more leaves.
The flower stalks will absorb most of the nutrients from the soil, so it is better to prune them.
Allow the blossoms to dry naturally on the plant if you want seeds, and then prune after the seeds have fallen.
Tips for Pruning Aloe Flower
Grab a pair of pruning shears and isopropyl alcohol to prune your flowering Aloe. If you have them, you are good to go with the instructions below!
- You should wait until the blooms of the Aloe plant dies in order to prune them.
- Sterilize your shears to remove any debris from them.
- Disinfect them with isopropyl alcohol.
- Once the Aloe flowers are spent, cut them off close to the base of the plant.
Meaning & Uses of Aloe Flower
Aloe flowers do not look like they can add much value, but civilizations from different regions of the world have already exploited these flowers for multiple uses.
1. Traditional & Spiritual Meaning
Do you know Aloe flowers were believed to bloom without the soil? Well, at least the Ancient Egyptians did; hence, they even called it “the Plant of Immortality!”
Moreover, different civilizations speak about the aloe flowers as the spiritual symbol of beauty, fortune, and good health.
In the Arabic dialect, “Aloe” is derived from the word “Alloeh,” meaning “shining bitter substance,” while “vera” in Latin translates to “true” due to the bitterness of the plant parts.
Besides, due to its lengthy flowering period and growth, the flowers also symbolize patience and endurance.
The most commonly used Aloe is Aloe vera, whose properties even the Egyptian queen Cleopatra had exploited to enhance her beauty.
In many funerary practices, the Aloe plant also represents “resurrection” due to the plant’s ability to return to its flowering state from the dead!
Furthermore, the plant and its flowers symbolize good luck and a protector from bad energies in different parts of the world.
2. Ornamental Use
Aloe plants have over 500 species that produce tubular flowers and come in various colors to beautify indoor and outdoor spaces.
You can place a pair of potted Aloe plants on either side of the entry door of your home and see the magic it sets for your incoming guests.
These spunky succulents bring a funky vibe to the table and home. You can keep aloe in the head planter, woven basket planter, or arrange aloe with other succulents.
It will be great to use some plain planters as decorations for your bookshelf, the mantel, a credenza, or as a centerpiece along your dining room table by filling them with little aloe vera plants.
3. Medical Use
Aloe flowers are a valuable source of bioactive substances to offer various health benefits.
The flowers contain bioactive substances with potential uses in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and food industries.
DNA, amino acids, proteins, carbs, etc., are all abundant in pollen.
All of these natural ingredients are helpful for cell regeneration and long-term skin rejuvenation therapies.
Additionally, NASA published a study that found that aloe plants can eliminate harmful chemicals from the air.
Nevertheless, if you cut the flowers of your aloe, the plant can instill air-cleansing properties indoors.
Is Aloe Flower Poisonous?
The only edible Aloe vera is Aloe vera barbadensis Miller but you can easily mistake it for the non-edible Aloe vera var. Chinensis. The edible variety features upright, broad, thick, and silvery-green leaves.
According to Healthline, both the skin and the gel inside of an aloe vera leaf are safe to consume.
However, consumption of the flowers may induce minor diarrhea in humans, while large amounts may cause allergic reactions due to the presence of latex.
As per ASPCA, Aloe contains saponins and anthraquinone, which can be toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.
According to Natural Kenya, Aloe ballyi, Aloe elata, and Aloe ruspoliana are the three poisonous aloe species that produce leaf sap that smells really rotten.
Consuming any part of the aloe plant may cause vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea, tremors, and a change in urine color in your pets.
Wishing more to learn, reach out to Is Aloe Vera Toxic to Cats.
If your pets mistakenly consume aloe and show these symptoms, use the following numbers to get help.
Conclusion
Tell me why you dislike aloe, which features tubular yellow and orange blooms dangling in a cluster atop a stiff flower stalk. I know you can’t!
Besides the home decor, you can leverage aloe benefits ranging from purifying the air to cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses.
If you want to use aloe at home, don’t miss to read Aloe Vera Plant at Home.
However, you must verify the nontoxic aloe plants before eating or using aloe sap, as some aloe varieties are poisonous.
