Greening My Air - My World Tuesday

I haven't had any plants now for some time so I bought a small aloe vera plant last summer. It needed repotting then but I still haven't repotted it! Something I know I need to do so it can really spread out and grow.

The aloe plant is well known as a medicinal plant. I've mostly known of this plant for its gel. When one gets a cut or scrape you can break a stem from this plant and squeeze the gel from the shoot onto your cut. It has many other uses besides applying to cuts and scrapes.  You can read more about it here.

The aloe vera plant originates in northern Africa. When I was in Kenya, East Africa,  I saw these huge aloe plants like these ones in the photos below. I was on my way to Marigat, Kenya.

You can see just how dry the climate is by looking at the plants and the ground.  These aloe plants are outside the aloe farm.

Look at how large some of these aloe plants are!

This is the company that is growing aloe plants and seedlings for sale.  I didn't have time to stop and have a closer look at the business operations.

Another plant I purchased in November (see photo below)  is not doing so well. It is of the Dracaena family. I believe it's path to illness was due to an episode of over watering.  I've cut off all the brown and dead leaves but now the plant has leaves on one side only and is looking rather bare.  I have fertilized it.  I hope it can recover and become more balanced looking over time. Perhaps I need to cut all the leaves back, I'm just not sure. I will have to do some research.

The Draecena plants make up an important group of plants used to decorate the home, keep the air clean and "green" private and public spaces.   Apparently there are approximately 40 or so assorted species of this plant and it comes in various shapes and sizes.


The plant above is one of the popular Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’ is more commonly known as the Corn Plant. It is supposed to do  well in low light conditions and its wide leaves are long and arc gracefully from the stalk.

You can't tell from my little plant above, but years ago I did have a beautiful and healthy Corn Plant. I don't remember what happened to it but I believe the movers packed it up and put it in storage when we had the fire. They literally put it in a box and didn't water it. Needless to say it was not thriving when I got it back and it didn't take long before it expired completely. Though it doesn't need a lot of water, it does need some.

I love the leaves on a larger Corn Plant so I had to buy it when I saw it on the weekend.  I think it is good for cleaning the air in my small apartment. Especially during the winter when the windows are seldom kept open.

Hopefully this plant will be with me for years to come and clean the air that I breathe.

For more insight into what others around the world are doing this Tuesday, click here.