• posted on 03-22-2026 in plants

Behold thy hydra aloe vera, anon.
Rare to see a clone split like this but it does happen every now and then. Was spring/summer 2022 i believe when this aloe vera clone starting splitting heads on the main node.

was different from the usual replicates, that spawn in the dirt, somewhere along the root. For whatever reason that season she did the multi head thingy. in addition to multiple in-dirt next gen clones.
the hydra aloe vera really gives off that green dragon aesthetic in botanical format. this one was about 8 years old when this happened. Despite its age it has never flowered, which is common for clones of clones of clones, lol. Of my aloe vera archive only one has ever flowered. And in the sea of aloe vera im not sure which one it is any more. But i have pictures of that season that i will post soon too.

notice how over time they literally start to walk out of the pot. every large/old plant leans like that. kinda reminiscent of the time lapse videos that show plant movement etc. roots spiral and add a new top layer each season.
and after every season i have to reset the plants/pots, which involves removing entirely or just repositioning. its a job but i have done it for about 15 years now so no biggie.

last year i learned a new dormancy technique to keep them alive during the winter. definitely will post the pictures soon but in short i was able to keep them all alive by a window without pots/dirt. literally roots exposed like when you buy bare root via mail.
usually i just keep them dry in pot but space was tight indoors this past season. so i had to adjust accordingly.

anyways enjoy these pictures, anon. as not too long after that season she collapsed under her own weight, breaking the hydra aloe vera's connections. was i sad, nope; cause its dangerous for these plants to hold too much water during the off season. even when dry they can catch a cold and before you know it - its too late.
in my zone the winters are cold and long too. so its like; lose the entire plant to rot or allow her to release the burden, ez pz decision.

and after the separation event happened i ended up having like another 10 clones of varying sizes to pot. its like an assembly line for aloe vera once you get a few clones going, so definitely worth adding to your botanical archive as these plants are known as healing plants. burns, cuts, gut stuff you name it aloe vera probably can help it.