I trimmed off the pokey parts and then used a knife to separate the outer layers,
then dumped gooey innards into the blender.
A lot leaves, a lot of gooey stuff.
Now it’s frothy stuff.
After the bubbles settled down, I filled five jars with 12 ounces of filtered tap water. I stirred in 4 tablespoons of aloe to one jar, 3 tbsp to the next, and so on, leaving the fifth just water.
Maybe some percentage of aloe is conducive to root growth. I’ll find out in a few days.
Oh. And the leftover mint I used for mint and honey tea. Because I’m worth it.
Ok, I have exhausted all possiblities and enthusiasm for aloe as a rooting agent.
Special thanks to @theatomscombined for reminding me to post the results, I think I was trying to block it all out.
From left to right shows the mint that was in the 4 tbsp of aloe mixture, then 3 tbsp, etc. The right is the control.
After SIXTEEN days, I stopped – as you can see, the stems started to get slimy. Roots appeared only on the control, no aloe in the water.
My findings: Aloe is not only ineffective as a rooting agent, it appears to actually be detrimental to rooting.
I welcome anyone with too much time on their hands to try and see if they get different results.