Is there a way I can preserve aloe vera?

My aloe vera is definitely in need of thinning and repotting. In the past, I've given away the babies to anyone who wanted some, but I'm out of people to give them to. So I'm wondering, is there any way I can preserve fresh aloe vera gel?

I hear you can freeze aloe vera leaves for maybe 6 months. Other than that, I fear you will either need a whole bunch more pots... :) or else just thin it and get rid of the extra.

i process it into gel and give it away, and I have frozen the gel (even though I just cant use it fast enough to keep up). I feel so bad doing it but I have to run so much aloe through the chipper, it grows like nuts here and I simply can't keep up (despite giving away the gel, the babies, etc). I have a few in my front yard that are getting toward waist high!

Aloe vera seems to be one of the few plants that I don't manage to kill. That and succulents.

I keep repotting them and giving them away but like you, have run out of recipients.

There's a local pay it forward fb group that I occasionally post excess plants to give away but even then, don't always find any takers.

Apart from looking scruffy, they don't seem to mind being overcrowded, the leaves are just not as plump.

I usually scoop the gel out and mix it with some honey and water make a drink. Or use the gel for your hair skin etc. cuts. Yes you can freeze it or dry it up it's turn into a powder sort of. I wouldn't waste it. It's good for you it's a very healing plant.

Lots of good ideas here.

Tereza Okava wrote:i process it into gel . . .

Tereza, can you describe how you do that?

Leigh Tate wrote:

Tereza Okava wrote:i process it into gel . . .

Tereza, can you describe how you do that?

I take the largest leaves and basically fillet them by cutting off the skin. First slice off the pokey sides, then slice off the flat top side and then the curved bottom. Big leaves make it easy, and the fillet is also slippery as heck once you get the skin off, so I use a very sharp knife and sometimes my safety glove. Along with the skin, you're taking off the very bitter (and smelly) liquid (sometimes it looks or stains yellow, depending on the aloe). I hear people say you can scoop it out, I haven't had success with that, but however you get the clear gel out of the skins will work.
I rinse with water, to make sure that all the sap is gone. I do enough to fill a blender jar, and then blend in batches. It will get very bubbly and huge and usually needs to settle overnight in the fridge. Stick blender also works really well here, but it still needs to settle.
I then bottle the liquid. In fact I will do some next week, since I'll be visiting my sister in law who has some sort of skin allergies that only seem to get relief from aloe. I've found if you bottle it with almost no head space and keep it in the fridge, it lasts a very long time (no texture or smell changes). My sister in law freezes what I bring in muffin tins, apparently, so she always has a stock. I am not consuming it, so not sure about tastes or how long it lasts for that, if we were to eat/drink it I think I'd use it within 24 hours or so.

I forgot to mention. If your plants are getting sick you can mix/blend some aloe gel with water and water your sick or dying plants. It heals them just like it heals us. And it also helps the plants survive any droughts, similar to how aloe behaves.