Aloe Vera Juice Foliar Spray: Why?

[BakedARea]

A have a couple questions about Aloe Vera. I have some growing (not much) but I will be growing more of it knowing that it is beneficial for my garden as well.

What exactly is it beneficial for?
Did I get the right stuff to be able to incorporate into a foliar spray? If not, what is recommended? Thanks

Here is a close up of the ingredients. I'm concerned about the last 2 ingredients. I bought it anyway in case I could use it for the garden. If I can't, then we'll just drink it.

 

[Kodiak420]

Check this out this thread.

Most people seem to use for cloning
below is a quote

and it also contains growth hormones and natural rooting compounds. Here's a coot quote re: aloe " Aloe Vera: contains Salicylic acid is a plant compound which has been used as a rooting agent for over 120 years in the nursery industry. This is the compound that's found in Willow trees which you might have run across in posts on rooting a cutting. This plant material is also very high in Saponins (30,000 ppm) and this adds another level of benefits."

 

[BakedARea]

One of my biggest questions about this product was whether it was safe to use and the mixing ratio. I found a couple resources (other forums) which mentioned it was indeed safe. They diluted it at 1/4 cup aloe water to 1 gallon of water. Some growers also used other ingredients (coconut water, molasses, neem, kelp extract, etc.) I figured I would post what I found in case someone does a search for this specific product (Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera) in the future.

I will be giving this mix ratio a try on specific plants in my veggie garden before spraying the young clones. I would like to ensure it's safety first on some cheap plants that I can sacrifice. I will comment again in a week or so after seeing results and post some pics too.

 

[Kodiak420]

They diluted it at 1/4 cup aloe water to 1 gallon of water. Some growers also used other ingredients (coconut water, molasses, neem, kelp extract, etc.)

Will you be trying all the ingredients you posted or just the Aloe Vera?
I'm in either way to see your results, if its alright.

Grow on

 

[Canadadoes]

I’ve never heard of this, I guess I’m about to go do some reading. I’ll be back, any links?

Edit.
Here is a little snippet from an article I’m reading,

Aloe Vera:
You can use the Fresh Leaves, or you can use Freeze Dried Powder in 200x pure form. Aloe Vera has saponins and salicylic acid. When you are finished mixing up a fresh botanical tea I like to add about 1⁄4 Cup of Fresh Aloe Vera Juice per Gallon of water. This will help keep the moisture in the soil and also increase the health of the roots and plant. Some growers report that Aloe foliar sprays help with intense heat and indoor lighting.

 

[BakedARea]

Will you be trying all the ingredients you posted or just the Aloe Vera?
I'm in either way to see your results, if its alright.

Grow on

Yeah man! I always appreciate the company.

So I made a foliar batch this evening and I included silica and neem. I also added Dr. Bronners Peppermint & Hemp soap. I made a whole gallon. I sprayed every fruit tree and veggie in my garden first. After spraying everything else, really thinking about the ingredients, and realizing how resilient cannabis plants are; I decided to go ahead and spray them. LOL What the hell...what better way to learn than to just do. If it ends up being a mistake then we will all learn from it. I have a good feeling about it though!

When I started spraying the garden white flies and fungus gnats and various other who knows what were flying the hell off the plants and desperately trying to find cover! No doubt they hated the neem and soap combo. I saw a full grown fly on one of my tomato plants get some spray and it flew about 3 feet and fell into a pot and started seizing! That spray is not only giving them nutrients with the aloe and silica but also taking care of pests! I will also be doing only aloe vera foliar spray but will add a little yucca extract for the surfactant. It will be a good indicator to see how they respond with only the aloe. Tonight's spray was definitely packing a punch.

I’ve never heard of this, I guess I’m about to go do some reading. I’ll be back, any links?

Edit.
Here is a little snippet from an article I’m reading,

Aloe Vera:
You can use the Fresh Leaves, or you can use Freeze Dried Powder in 200x pure form. Aloe Vera has saponins and salicylic acid. When you are finished mixing up a fresh botanical tea I like to add about 1⁄4 Cup of Fresh Aloe Vera Juice per Gallon of water. This will help keep the moisture in the soil and also increase the health of the roots and plant. Some growers report that Aloe foliar sprays help with intense heat and indoor lighting.

Hey Canadadoes. Yeah, I had seen some articles here and there about using Aloe. I started watching some videos on YouTube and one of my favorite growers swears by it in his foliar sprays. I believe he uses the 200x powder. That will probably be what I will be getting next honestly. It sounds like it goes a long way and I can minimize the additional ingredients that are in the aloe water I used this evening. But from everything I have been reading, aloe vera is an amazing nutrient for our plants. I have a couple aloe vera plants but they are small. I will be finding a place on my property where I can dedicate more space so that I can use fresh aloe in the future!

A quick pic of the 6 clones that got the spray. The seedlings did not get it. I didn't trust it that much yet. Haaa haaa haaa

 

[BakedARea]

Ok...you guys can see their posture in the last pic I posted. Not droopy but starting to look a little thirsty is my hunch. Look at them this morning after the spray and some beauty sleep!
I think we can agree that they look content. Let's see how long they look like this.

Next question...how much of a good thing is too much? Biweekly foliar spray, weekly, bimonthly???

 

[AdaminCO]

@Emilya have you heard of aloe being used for foliage spray?

 

[Emilya Green]

@Emilya have you heard of aloe being used for foliage spray?

yes, and here is the reason why:

Aloe is also very good applied directly to the soil in your water, for all the same reasons.

 

[BakedARea]

Better believe I just downloaded that aloe pic for future reference! Thank you @Emilya for chiming in. Don't they look thrilled this morning?!

 

[CannaFish]

I put whole fresh aloe Vera leaves in the blender and blend into a nice frothy green smoothie. I mix it with my irrigation water and nutes and water into the soil.
I think the salicylic acid has a beneficial effect on the root biome.
To use as a foliar spray the leaf needs to be filleted to remove the gel in the center. Then the gel can be blended and used in a sprayer. Otherwise if you blend the whole leaf, you’ll get clogging in your sprayer from the tough outer layers of the aloe leaf.
I highly recommend all growers to grow and propagate their own aloes, it’s very rewarding. Don’t forget there’s other beneficial aloes as well as Vera. Aloe arborescens is a good one too.

 

[BakedARea]

Don’t forget there’s other beneficial aloes as well as Vera. Aloe arborescens is a good one too.

If I were to show you a picture of what I have, could you confirm if it is aloe or another variety?

 

[CannaFish]

I can try. There’s over 400 species

 

[CannaFish]

This is a little different but I think some may find a use for it... it’s a recipe for a fermented aloe Vera foliar spray:

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[CannaFish]

If I were to show you a picture of what I have, could you confirm if it is aloe or another variety?

I see you are in Central CA. You should have many, many types of aloes available in your area. I think aloe arborescens is commonly grown in the landscape there.

 

[BakedARea]

I see you are in Central CA. You should have many, many types of aloes available in your area. I think aloe arborescens is commonly grown in the landscape there.

Yup. I recently picked some aloe vera at a local nursery but it didn't state which variety it is. They had probably 3 or 4 different types. I will have to do more research on the different types. One of the ladies that helped me indicated that I should try the soft skinned varieties for the best foliar sprays. She said that the gel is easier to acquire and the leaves are plumper than the thicker skinned varieties. I will be getting some more soon so I can always have enough for my drench and foliar applications.

 

[BakedARea]

I wanted to share my homemade version of an Aloe vera soil drench solution. I have been buying a few plants here and there when I come across some I like.

Often, I just eyeball and use instinct when I am doing certain things. I probably should have made better measurements of the aloe and water to make the concentrate but for now, this is what I did.

I harvested maybe 1/2 lb of fresh aloe leaves. I added roughly a cup of water, maybe a little more. This batch made about 3+ cups of concentrated aloe water. I then diluted it 1/4 cup to 1 gallon of water. I added silica and had to pH down the final solution.

That froth looks yummy! The plants are going to be thrilled with their aloe smoothie!

The pH of the aloe vera water concentrate was 4.86

After adding water and silica, the pH shot up to 8.67

I finished off the drench solution at 6.5-6.8. It is recommended to have the soil slightly saturated so that less of this nutrient rich solution doesn't go to waste. I had a few plants that were parched and ready for a drink. I had plenty of the concentrate so I gave all the plants a full drench with the solution. I didn't bother pre-watering the soil.

I will take better measurements moving forward so that the recipe will be easier to replicate. You really cannot go wrong with aloe or use too much. From all the research I have done, the plants will use as little or as much as you provide it. If you have a solution too concentrated, I will not hurt your plants or biology. They will use only what they need and the rest gets absorbed into the soil biology. Pretty damn efficient! I'm stoked to have another sustainable ingredient in my own garden to benefit all my plants!

 

[CanadianJim]

Those leaves look huge, almost like cape aloe! How'd you get aloe vera to grow that big?

 

[CannaFish]

Good to know about the ph. That looks like aloe maculata, used to be aloe saponaria. aka zebra aloe or soap aloe.

I have started doing a foliar spray on the garden every 7-14 days that is :
1 gallon RO water
1 large aloe vera inner leaf gel that has been throughly blended
25 drops Superthrive
5 tsp liquid kelp extract

It leaves tiny white spots on the leaves when dry, i think its the lignin from the aloe?

I want to add fulvic acid to the mix once I get it. I also would like to blend 3 of the different aloe species to get a diversity of amino acids in the spray.

I have to repost this too... He is a foliar biostimulant wizard...

 

[CannaFish]

p.s. - @BakedARea if you do that again... can you take a ph measurement with just the aloe mixed with water before you add the silica? I'm curious what difference the silica makes ph wise.
Also there are different constituent chemicals in the leaf and sap compared to the inner gel alone. Things like aloin which are very bitter and have laxative effects. That maybe what dropped the ph so low.