This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
🐝🦋 Popular pollinator attractor
🏜️ Xeriscaping
🛡️Protect with cover or bring indoors during Winter
▷ IDENTIFICATION🔍
Common Name: Soap Aloe
Botanical Name: Aloe maculata
Family: Asphodelaceae
Inedible evergreen succulent perennial for Zones 8a to 11b
❗Children: Research or consult a doctor prior to using externally for young children, who may have undiscovered sensitivities or allergies.🚼
PRECAUTION: This specific variety of aloe is not considered edible.
▷ OTHER NAMES & LOOKALIKES 🏷️
Other Names 🏷️
The word “maculata” is a Latin adjective that means “spotted” or “stained”.
◦ Candle Aloe
◦ Spotted Aloe
Lookalikes 🔎
Aloe Striata: Flowers on branched stalks and have a flat-topped racemes.
◦ Aloe arborescens ‘Miller’: Known as the Torch Aloe, this large aloe has many stems and may grow up to 2 meters tall. It has stiff, lance-shaped leaves with sharp white teeth along the edges and orange-red flowers that bloom in clusters during the summer.
◦ Haworthia: Succulent plant has thick leaves that grow in a rosette pattern with white bands on the surface. It has similar needs to aloe vera plants and can thrive indoors.
◦ Agave: Succulent has thorny edges on its leaves, which makes it look like a cactus and similar to aloe vera.
◦ Yucca
◦ Dryland Bromeliad
◦ Gasteria
◦ Bergeranthus
▷ APPEARANCE 🪞
Plant Description🌿🗒️
This low maintenance, spiky succulent attracts hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. Favorable ornamental plant that has medicinal properties within the gel contained in the foliage. Leaves are narrow and triangular in shape, grow in a rosette pattern, and have serrated edges. The white-spotted leaves may be green-blue in shade to pink-red in full sun. Flowers are red, tubular, 1″ to 1½” length, and grow in flat-topped racemes on branching stalks that reach 3′ high. The water content of this succulent makes it suitable to wildfire-prone areas.
Dimensions, Root Depth, and Spacing 📏↔️
Height: 12″ to 18″
Width: 12″ to 24″
Root Depth: Shallow roots; Ideal minimum container size 7 gallon or 8 gallons. Larger containers allow plants to grow taller and wider!
Spacing: 24″ apart
Flower Season and Fruit or Seed 🌻🍎🫘
Flower: Red, tubular flowers appear on branched stalks in Spring or Winter. Flowering stalks appear intermittently all year in warm climates
Seed: Small, dark brown, narrow triangle-shaped, 1 mm to 2 mm length
▷ REPRODUCTION🌱
Sexuality: Hermaphroditic
Pollination: Pollinated by hummingbirds, bees, and other beneficial pollinators
Growth Rate: Fast
Propagation:
◦ Roots: Carefully dig up the individual baby plants. For plants heavily condensed and stuck in pots with many baby plants, carefully dig up the plants on the outside of the group one at a time. If plants are too compacted, carefully dig up the entire plant with a hand trowel, doing one’s best not to damage it, and separate into individual plants. Replant immediately into the garden or another pot.
Seed Germination: Soil pH 6.6 to 7.5 at preferably 68°F to 75°F, kept moist, however not wet or dry. Barely cover seeds, emerges 14 days to 28 days after being sown.
Indoor Planting: Grow plant for 1 year prior to transplanting outside 10 weeks after last frost date
Outdoor Planting: Plant seed 10 weeks after last frost date
▷ REQUIREMENTS❤️
Sunlight, Water, Fertilizer, and Pruning ☀️💧✂️
Sunlight: Prefers full sun, tolerates partial shade
Note: Avoid aerial watering, which encourages fungal growth and disease.
Outdoor Watering: Water regularly during Summer (every 2 to 4 days) and less frequently in the Winter (Every 2 to 4 weeks). Providing xeriscaping plants with an acceptable amount of water may help foliage grow faster and helps the plant during the flowering stage
Indoor Watering: Deep and infrequent, allowing for soil to dry on the top layer prior to more water
Drought Resistance: Drought tolerant once established
Fertilizer: Once or twice per year, apply fertilizer in either the Spring or Summer. Scatter evenly at the base of plants, avoiding clumps of fertilizer and preventing contact with stalks and stems. Large clumps of fertilizer won’t evenly supplement nutrients into the entire soil surface after it mixes with water from rain or irrigation. Fertilizer clumps around the base of plants make cause the main stalk to rot or have contact burns, which could damage or kill the plant. Do not throw fertilizer over plant tops, as the clumps of fertilizer caught in between leaf nodes and on foliage may either burn or rot the foliage
Pruning: Avoid pruning during Winter as it may kill the plant. This same rule applies for the Fall in northern climates. Remove withered flowers, dead leaves, and leggy stems to enhance plant’s appearance. This also promotes new stems to appear with more leaves and flowers
Soil, Planting, and Environment 🌄🏞️🏜️
Soil: Prefers well-drained, neutral, slightly alkaline soil that’s moist or dry, sandy, or gravelly. Adaptable to dry conditions
pH: Prefers 6.6 to 7.5, tolerates 6.1 to 7.8
Planting: When planting a potted plant, dig a hole that’s as deep as the pot and as wide as the root base. For plants with wide roots, dig a hole that is twice the width of the pot and gently space out the root system and then cover with soil to promote healthy growth. Burying tangled roots could cause health issues or stunted growth. The soil should be gently pressed in or watered in to fill the air pockets, preventing soil from collapsing in when watering or raining. Unplanted roots add to the stress of plants and could cause health problems or diseases. Cover every root with soil and smooth the soil’s surface.
Habitat: Native to native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, and many islands in the western Indian Ocean. Found in thickets, grasslands, and rocky slopes.
Temperature Preference and Temperature Tolerance🌡️
Temperature: Prefers 55°F to 85°F
Heat Tolerance: 100°F; Drought tolerant once established
Cold Tolerance: 50°F; Tolerates 15°F to 25°F. Mildly frost tolerant, temperatures below 32°F may damage the plant, thought it will quickly recover. Mulch roots to retain water and to protect the root system from the cold during Winter. Keep dead leaves on the plant during Winter as a shield to protect the plant, then cut back in the Spring to promote new foliage growth.
Salt, Wind, and Pollution Tolerance 🧂💨 ☣️
Salt Tolerance: High salt tolerance
Wind Tolerance: High wind tolerance
Pollution Tolerance: Low urban and inner city pollution tolerance
▷ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION📚
Description 📝
Soap Aloe is a perennial succulent with reddish-pink leaves in full sun and bluish-green leaves in partial shade.
Attract and Repel Wildlife🐝🦋🐦🐌🪰🐇🦌
Deer and Rodent Resistant🦌🐇🐁
Attracts: Hummingbirds, small birds, bees, butterflies, and lizards
Repels: None known
Diseases, Problems, and Pests🐜🦠
Note: Proper care keeps plants resilient and healthy, preventing diseases and pests. This list details the potential threats, specific diseases, and pests vary depending on environmental climate.
Diseases:
◦ Basal Stem Rot: Caused by cold and wet conditions, this disease causes stems to rot and turn black or reddish brown. Stem cuttings may be taken above the rotten part to save the plant.
◦ Leaf Tip Necrosis: A common phenomenon in aloe species, especially spotted aloes. This may be avoided by providing shade and watering well during dry periods.
◦ Fungus Infection
Problems:
◦ Overwatering: Leaves will develop soft, soggy, water-soaked spots that look saturated with water and turn to mush.
Pests:
◦ Aphids: Small, soft-bodied sucking insects which pierce plant tissues and draw out the juices.
◦ Spider Mites: They feed by bruising plant cells with their small, whiplike mouthparts and ingesting the sap. Spider mites produce a fine silk webbing, often found at leaf nodes or the undersides of leaves, which may kill plants or cause serious stress
Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions ☠️❤️🩹
Animal Toxicity: Toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.
ASPCA Website – Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants “Aloe”
Individuals may have a sensitivity or allergies to Soap Aloe, consult a healthcare professional first and proceed at own risk.
Use and Harvest⚕️🌾
❗Never ingest essential oils, instead use organic fresh or dried herbs.
Use: Aloe vera barbadensis ‘Miller’ variety is commonly the most beneficial variety of Aloe vera, and as the only edible one. Aloe maculata should not be ingested. Symptoms of consuming Soap Aloe include kidney failure, diarrhea, hypokalemia, pseudomelanosis coli, phototoxicity, and hypersensitive reactions.
◦ Leaves: The gel inside the leaves may be used as a soap substitute. Externally applied in the form of a gel poultice or external therapeutic tea soak. Extended use is not suggested, as the gel may cause skin to dry due to the saponins.
◦ Essential Oil: Click Here for Precautions, Instructions, and Dilution Ratios
Benefits: Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, relieves swelling, astringent, prevents and fights infection, skin ailments (acne, herpes, psoriasis, radiation dermatitis), gently exfoliating, cleansing, wound healing, temporarily moisturizing (excessive use dries skin due to mildly exfoliating and astringent enzymes), soothes contact burns, sunburns
Dosing: Use externally in moderation. Protect unused portions with a wrapping or container and refrigerate a maximum of 2 weeks. Apply for 1 or 2 weeks, then discontinue for 2 to 4 weeks prior to reapplication.
Click Here for How To Harvest, Dry, and Properly Store Herbs and Seeds
Harvest: Never harvest more than 20% of a plant’s leaves or roots!
◦ Leaves: Harvest any time
◦ Seeds: Harvest the seeds from dry, papery flowers. Follow harvesting techniques in the link above to extract and properly store the seeds.
Aroma, Flavor, and Culinary Combinations🧼🍴
Does flowering stage impact leaf flavor?
Aroma: Mild
History 📜
Southern African plant that’s been used as an alternative to soap and as a healing remedy for many years.
Lifespan⏳
2 years to 3 years longevity for life expectancy.
Vegan Botany 