Homemade Aloe Vera Fertilizer

Improve Plant Growth 

We are all aware that Aloe vera (A. barbadensis) is packed with nutrients. It has been shown that aloe vera contains over 75 beneficial compounds including amino acids, antioxidants, complex carbohydrates, calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamins A, C, E, B-vitamins, and so much more. We can use it in our hair, on our skin, in our food and even in our garden.

When used as a homemade fertilizer, your plants receive a gentle and potent boost of nutrition. Aloe vera fertilizer encourages seed germination and rapid root development, improves cell strength, and supplies overall superior plant health, growth, and vitality! 

Enhanced Resilience

Aloe vera also contains enzymes and plant hormones that help to reduce transplant shock, and boost the plant’s resilience to drought, stress, and disease. For instance, the high levels of acemannan and saponin found in aloe vera both provide antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. This helps to protect plants from pathogens including harmful microbes, fungus, yeast, mold, or blight. 

Finally, the high levels of salicylic acid naturally found in aloe vera plays a big role in its healing powers! Salicylic acid is commonly found in skincare products to fight blemishes. In a similar manner, salicylic acid enhances the plant’s version of an immune system (known as the systemic immune response or SAR) that will help them fend off disease. The combination of all these things leads to happier, healthier plants that are more resilient to disease, pest pressure, as well as environmental stresses like transplanting, drought, chilling, heat, soil-borne contaminants, and more. Resilient plants require far less fussing and frustration, so you’ll be much happier too! 

Using Aloe Vera Fertilizer in the Garden

So, what type of aloe should we use to make fertilizer? It is best to use Aloe barbadensis if possible; the only edible and most medicinal variety of aloe vera. That is what we grow.

However, while it is not edible, Aloe chinensis has many medicinal properties and is often sold for topical use to treat burns, insect bites, and other skin ailments too. It’s easy to confuse the two, so check out this guide to learn the difference. I suspect it is okay to water plants with an A. chinenses solution, but I would avoid spraying it on the edible portion of your plants.

Now, there are two main ways to feed plants with aloe vera fertilizer: through a soil drench or applied as a foliar spray. The simplest method is to blend aloe vera in water, dilute it further, and then use the solution to water plants (aka, as a soil drench). The plants then soak up all that goodness through their root system. In contrast, you can spray dilute aloe vera directly on plant leaves. Foliar sprays enable plants to readily absorb nutrients directly into their vascular system, though it takes a little more effort to prepare and apply.

How to Make an Aloe Vera Soil Water

It’s very simple to make homemade aloe vera fertilizer to use as a soil drench. Basically, all you do is toss some aloe vera in a blender with water! If you’re using fresh aloe vera leaves, you don’t even need to remove the skin or extract the inner gel. 

Remember a little goes a long way! (to be honest, I don’t measure but do try to estimate.) You can begin by creating a smaller concentrated batch of aloe vera in the blender and then further dilute it before applying it in the garden. So, calculate based on the total volume you plan to make. For example, we blend about 2 large aloe vera leaves (or 4 – 5 small leaves) to make a 5-gallon bucket of finished aloe vera fertilizer. 

Keep in mind that it is best to use homemade aloe vera fertilizer within 20 minutes of mixing it. Once cut, processed, and exposed to air, fresh aloe vera quickly ferments and begins to degrade.

Ingredients: 

¼ cup to ½ cup of fresh aloe vera 

per gallon of water total

Preparation: 

• To harvest fresh aloe vera, take the oldest, outermost leaves from the plant. Holding the leaf near the base of the plant, gently pull while rocking back and forth until it peels away. Or use a knife to cut the leaves off near the base. 
• Cut the aloe vera leaves into several chunks and add them to a blender half-full of water. (The solution tends to foam up, so leave some space.) Again, don’t bother removing the skin. Blend until thoroughly combined. 
• Next, pour the blended aloe vera solution into a larger volume of water to dilute it to the desired concentration. We typically add one blender full of aloe into one or two 5-gallon buckets of water. 
• Finally, give a little love to each plant! Much like compost tea, apply approximately half a cup up to 2 cups of aloe vera fertilizer to each plant, scaling up or down depending on the size of the plant. When planting a new tree, give it up to a gallon! There is no risk of overdoing it, so go for it. Adding the finished solution into a watering can make applying to the garden easier. Other times, we use a large beaker or 2-cup measuring cup to scoop portions out of the main bucket.

Tip: It’s best to water with aloe vera right after the plants receive their routine water (the same day or next day) so that the soil is moist, readily accepts the aloe drench, and won’t need to be watered again for another couple days – giving the aloe some time to soak in and do its thing!