Aloe Vera Pups- A "How To"

NOTE: Due to the many Google searches on how to remove and transplant Aloe Vera shootings (commonly known as pups), I have made a new How To page (which would be this one) concerning the aforementioned. To see the other Aloe Vera page, click here. There are pictures of pups here, but not how to remove them.

HOW TO: Remove an Aloe Vera pup and plant it.

Get the Aloe Vera plant pup.

1. Find the pup.
2. Wait until the pup is about 2-4 inches tall, 3-4 inches preferred. It should have at least 4 leaves (5+ preferred), be rather green, and large.
   
3. Rip the pup off- it does sometimes take a little work. Depending on how the mother plant is growing, it could be really easy (like taking off the plastic covering to a pudding cup) or rather difficult (try clearing away the dirt near it, then work in a variety of directions: up, out, straight to the side...) NOTE: It is okay if a couple leaves get ripped off. There should be some sort of base to your pup, and usually there's going to be one little yellow-green trail (which is a root).
   
4. Grab your pot and your soil. Your soil doesn't have to be super good, but it should be mildly decent. Also, it should be a little sandy- if you have some super rich, dark black soil, go ahead and mix a little crummy soil or sand into it.
5. Stick the pup in the pot.

And that's about it. I would suggest watering it (just a little). Keep in mind that these are succulents, like cacti- they get over-watered easily (consequently, don't water too much).

If your pup is doing good, then it should stay a nice healthy green color. If not, then it'll turn a little purple (actually, most of it will turn a very pale purple) and some bottom leaves will start shriveling up. Don't worry (yet)- just make sure the soil is wet (sometimes the water just stays on top and doesn't get down to the roots). Or sometimes, your soil is too wet and the roots actually start rotting (called root rot).