Aloe Vera: A Great Plant For Your Home Herb Garden
Being a medicinal herb that's multi-purpose, the aloe vera plant is commonly used in hundreds of households around the world. Unlike some types of plants, this plant no longer thrives in the wild. The aloe vera is said to have its origins in Africa, with its relatives still living up to the present day. You can also find references of the plant in the Bible, which makes it one of the oldest documented species of plants known to man. Nowadays, this plant lives in captivity or grown by people for domestic purposes (for example, in the herb garden at home). This alone would make the aloe vera quite unique to the other household plants in the wild.
The aloe vera has a lot of properties, from soothing burns, promoting faster healing, to the treatment of diseases like diabetes. Because of the plant's special compounds (which include anthraquinones, lectins, anthraquinone C-glycosides, anthrones, acetylated mannans and polymannans), companies tend to add aloe to their products' ingredients so as to entice users to buy them.
The aloe vera is a succulent plant (or fat plant) that thrives in zones 8-10. It can serve as an ornamental plant meant for low-water gardens, and they can also be put inside the house. It can't do quite well in freezing temperatures, and would eventually die under such condition. For those who want to keep the plant in freezing conditions, you must place it indoors, or perhaps in a greenhouse to prevent the frost from destroying it. As a succulent kind of plant, it resembles cacti and other common desert plants. As the plant would favor acrid kinds of climates, giving it too much water will destroy it. As it is one of the easiest plants to take care of, it shouldn't be watered until the soil runs dry. Only soil with good drainage should be utilized in potting the plant, because having too much sitting water will cause the root to rot.
When grown at home, the plant is used as a remedy for burns and cuts. There are conflicting studies when it comes to analyzing how the plant would affect the rate of healing. There are some indicators that the rate of healing might depend on the depth and type of the burn, and the manner that it's bandaged. Some studies would say that the rate of healing is being slowed down from the plant. The aloe vera may also be digested as a general cure.
Despite the lack of data on its healing capabilities and other properties, it has garnered a good reputation among the people, granting the plant a place in soaps, lotions, shampoos and a wide selection of cosmetics. But the gains garnered from the plant's presence in the products are just based on belief and not on solid scientific proof. But with its good properties, this plant is truly worth putting in your home herb garden.
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