In my garden, there are two plants that are very special to me, mainly because one of them has survived the worst conditions and the other appeared out of nowhere. My aloe vera has been there for more than four years, and during that time there have been droughts, heat waves, and even trips when we had to leave, but it was still there, strong. And it’s even been used for medicinal purposes and beauty treatments.
As for my chili pepper plant, I don’t remember planting any seeds near my aloe vera, but it grew out of nowhere right next to it. There was just one small problem: it was right in the middle of the garden, which left it very exposed to all kinds of threats—for example, my kittens. In fact, it became their favorite spot to throw their full weight against and scratch themselves.
Obviously, this resulted in its roots weakening, and my chili pepper plant—which, by the way, had already borne fruit—began to wilt a bit and look unattractive. Since I couldn’t put up any wooden barriers or protection around these plants because that would further limit the space available to walk through the garden, I decided to transplant them to much safer spots where I know my cats won’t harm them.
But I also had to place them in strategic spots based on each plant’s needs. For example, I couldn’t put the chili plant near another plant anymore because it would need a lot of nutrients to grow. Plus, I felt it needed to be near something that could support it in case it grew tall, so I decided to transplant it near a wall in my backyard to give it some stability.
As for the aloe vera, I placed it in a spot surrounded by other trees, so my kittens won’t be tempted to scratch themselves on it. I have to say this was quite a challenging experience for me, because I thought neither plant would survive being moved. I have to say that my garden doesn’t have the best conditions or the best soil for plants, but I try to make up for this with some organic waste and also with the nutrients from the dry logs that eventually broke down.
I knew I had to do it at the right time because the sun is strong here and could scorch my plant, and they might not survive the transplant. So I got to work. The first thing I did was dig the holes where I was going to plant my two little plants. The first one I dug was for the aloe vera. It was a bit tricky because it required quite a bit of strength on my part, and I did it with a shovel, but since it took a lot of physical effort and also got me a little dirty, to be honest, it didn’t even occur to me to take photos of that process.
Then, near the wall I mentioned, I dug another hole deep enough to hold all the roots of my chili pepper plant and leave enough space to add some soil from where it had been planted before. For the chili pepper, I dug around the plant, but not too close to it, so as not to break the roots. The aloe vera was a bit more complicated, since its roots were deeper; plus, it was super heavy, and I was having a hard time holding it steady to move it to the other spot.
Fortunately, I managed to do it. I think I timed the transplant just right because it’s been two weeks since I moved my plants, and they’re still standing strong. I have to admit I was really scared because my chili pepper plant, at least, looked scorched and its leaves were drooping, and I truly thought it wouldn’t survive. But to make sure it survived, I placed a chair and put a piece of cardboard on top of it so the sun wouldn’t shine directly on it while it adjusted to its new spot.
Several days went by, and I was feeling a bit down, already imagining that I’d have to watch my little chili plant die, but shielding it from direct sunlight and giving it only the necessary amount of water helped it survive. Right now it looks strong, and in fact, it’s even sprouted some new leaves. I’ve been making an effort to give it plenty of homemade compost made from fruit peels, and I’ve even heard that coffee grounds work too—and so far, it looks healthy.
As for my aloe vera, these plants tend to be more resilient, and it seems to have adapted well to its new spot. I hope it can grow a little more freely here too and, of course, live for many more years in my backyard. I’m so happy that both of them survived—you could say this is the first time I’ve successfully transplanted a plant from one place to another.
-Content entirely of my authorship and inspiration. -Original text in Spanish, translated at DeepL. -Personal photographs, taken with my Huawei p30 Lite Phone. -Banners designed in Canva Pro.
