Is aloe Vera safe bought at Lowe’s

Thundersnow

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I did see all the aloe Vera threads saying it’s safe to feed-but my question is different.
Lowes has small ones and I know they have fertilizer in it. How long do I have to wait before I can feed it to my start tort? I will replant in soil and I want to but it in his tank see he can eat it at will. Thanks
 

Beasty_Artemis

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You could wait 24 hours after you replant it into some new soil, and flush it with distilled water mabey... I recently had an issue with my wild plants that I harvest for my baby tortoise salad getting spraying with poison by my neighbor lady so I had to stop using them. Disappointing
 

Thundersnow

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You could wait 24 hours after you replant it into some new soil, and flush it with distilled water mabey... I recently had an issue with my wild plants that I harvest for my baby tortoise salad getting spraying with poison by my neighbor lady so I had to stop using them. Disappointing
How awful. Your neighbor is very inconsiderate ?
 

Beasty_Artemis

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Unfortunately they are the nicest old lady who is super friendly to my husband.... so I just had to sigh and roll my eyes.
 

TisMary

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I did see all the aloe Vera threads saying it’s safe to feed-but my question is different.
Lowes has small ones and I know they have fertilizer in it. How long do I have to wait before I can feed it to my start tort? I will replant in soil and I want to but it in his tank see he can eat it at will. Thanks
Definitely replant it before feeding any of it to your tort. And I'd let it grow out a coupla weeks before letting him sample it. This gives the plant an opportunity to kinda "flush" its own system from root to tip (see image - this is not an aloe, but surprise, surprise, virtually all plants do this, one way or another ?).

If you are going to put the actual plant itself (pot and all) into his enclosure, think about what soil you're going to use. For this purpose, I roll my own potting soil ? using the same ingredients I use for substrate (maybe not in the same ratios - depends on the plant). The main considerations are: no perlite, no fertilizers, no pesticides. I repot in this soil if I plan to (or think I might possibly, some day, who-knows-when...) put it into the enclosure. That way, I'm not putting the plant through the trauma of yet another repotting down the road, and the little guy is not going to get into anything that he shouldn't from the soil in that pot. OTOH, if I know for sure I'm never going to put this plant in the enclosure, then I use a good, commercial, organic potting soil from a bag (still has perlite, but no chemical fertilizers or pesticides). Good luck!

1626702484083.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phloem
 

Thundersnow

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Definitely replant it before feeding any of it to your tort. And I'd let it grow out a coupla weeks before letting him sample it. This gives the plant an opportunity to kinda "flush" its own system from root to tip (see image - this is not an aloe, but surprise, surprise, virtually all plants do this, one way or another ?).

If you are going to put the actual plant itself (pot and all) into his enclosure, think about what soil you're going to use. For this purpose, I roll my own potting soil ? using the same ingredients I use for substrate (maybe not in the same ratios - depends on the plant). The main considerations are: no perlite, no fertilizers, no pesticides. I repot in this soil if I plan to (or think I might possibly, some day, who-knows-when...) put it into the enclosure. That way, I'm not putting the plant through the trauma of yet another repotting down the road, and the little guy is not going to get into anything that he shouldn't from the soil in that pot. OTOH, if I know for sure I'm never going to put this plant in the enclosure, then I use a good, commercial, organic potting soil from a bag (still has perlite, but no chemical fertilizers or pesticides). Good luck!

View attachment 329348
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phloem
Thanks for all of that great info. I bought plain organic soil no anything in it. I bought new posts put soil in them then dumped the soil out to dry out to plant and replant the prickly pear cactuses I bought and the aloe vera
 

TisMary

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Thanks for all of that great info. I bought plain organic soil no anything in it. I bought new posts put soil in them then dumped the soil out to dry out to plant and replant the prickly pear cactuses I bought and the aloe vera
Do make sure there's no perlite in your new soil (looks like tiny Styrofoam balls). I couldn't find any packaged soil that didn't have it.

Elsewhere I've mentioned our Beardie who likes beating up on my plants ?. Here's a piece of my Prickly Pear Cactus (genus: Opuntia, species: who the heck knows? good story here). He was particularly mad at one day and broke this piece off! I replanted it and it's doing fine. It's even got a new paddle sprouting on top! (Its Big Brother is still in with Ol' Grumpy Pants, but it's doing fine too!) Prickly Pear1.JPG

1626708248334.jpeg
 

Thundersnow

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Do make sure there's no perlite in your new soil (looks like tiny Styrofoam balls). I couldn't find any packaged soil that didn't have it.

Elsewhere I've mentioned our Beardie who likes beating up on my plants ?. Here's a piece of my Prickly Pear Cactus (genus: Opuntia, species: who the heck knows? good story here). He was particularly mad at one day and broke this piece off! I replanted it and it's doing fine. It's even got a new paddle sprouting on top! (Its Big Brother is still in with Ol' Grumpy Pants, but it's doing fine too!) View attachment 329349

View attachment 329354
Grumpy pants ?
 

Beachtherapy

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Do make sure there's no perlite in your new soil (looks like tiny Styrofoam balls). I couldn't find any packaged soil that didn't have it.

Elsewhere I've mentioned our Beardie who likes beating up on my plants ?. Here's a piece of my Prickly Pear Cactus (genus: Opuntia, species: who the heck knows? good story here). He was particularly mad at one day and broke this piece off! I replanted it and it's doing fine. It's even got a new paddle sprouting on top! (Its Big Brother is still in with Ol' Grumpy Pants, but it's doing fine too!) View attachment 329349

View attachment 329354
Thought I would jump in here to comment on your cactus which is beautiful and not the average spineless prickly pear.

Opuntia cochenillifera variegata | Variegated Prickly Pear https://garden.org/plants/view/770310/Variegated-Prickly-Pear-Nopalea-cochenillifera-Variegata/

I’ve been getting a pad here and there to try to start a nice cactus stand so I can feed both kind and also enjoy the beauty.
 

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TisMary

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Thought I would jump in here to comment on your cactus which is beautiful and not the average spineless prickly pear.

Opuntia cochenillifera variegata | Variegated Prickly Pear https://garden.org/plants/view/770310/Variegated-Prickly-Pear-Nopalea-cochenillifera-Variegata/

I’ve been getting a pad here and there to try to start a nice cactus stand so I can feed both kind and also enjoy the beauty.
Hey @Beachtherapy - a Prickly Pear stand sounds like a great idea!
 
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