I keep aloe vera near the kitchen stove. If I get a burn -and think about it- I snip off the leaf near the base and just squeeze it. I don't think I'd try to keep any of the gel in advance of actual use. I actually find cold tea bags better for the burn. The growth rate will vary due to the usual reasons: variety of plant; availability of appropriate nourishment and water; sufficient sunlight; size of pot; etc. Having said all that, I divided my 24" tall plant last fall and just stuck one of the babies into a little pot that better fit onto the window sill. It was less than an inch tall at the time, with about a half-inch of root. It is now about 8 inches tall, has 8 leaves, and has made several babies. Apparently it is a happy plant, but I'm going to have to sit down and discuss birth control with it.

Yes I looked it up and I believe that it is Alworthia. The tag when I bought the plant says "medicinal aloe" and has a picture of green aloe that looks very much like regular aloe vera. The back says "caution, harmful if consumed." Is this true of alworthia? Is alworthia gel medicinal?

There are three "major" medicinal Aloes: Aloe arborescens (seriously people, if you live in SoCal, use this!), Aloe saporina, and Aloe vera. These are the standard, "put it on what hurts" Aloes, good for burns, scrapes, and other topical ailments. There are many other species used for other reasons (purgatives and laxatives are common!). In reality, most stuff sold at supermarkets is just the inner gel of the leaf with some other stuff mixed in. The thing is, most of the "medicinal" compounds are in the yellowish sap than runs more in the skin of the Aloe than in the middle, clear gel. If you've ever used real leaves instead of a supermarket bottle, you'd have found that it is much more effective, but leaves a yellowish, sticky residue that would be too uncivilized for something sold in the beauty department. So would A. maculata work? Probably, since the inner leaf gel is mostly just water in all species, and the supermarket bottles are mostly just water too. Then again, it is possible that it has some sort of compound in it that might actually irritate your skin. Depending on how much of a gambler you are (and how much extra A. maculata you have laying around) it may be worth a shot. Then again, I'm not even remotely a doctor, so maybe I'm not the best person to be listening to!

Bigger than the average Aloe vera - that's easy, evera, but you first (1) have to learn to crawl before (2) you walk, in a botanical sense, because you're already not growing it well. You cannot expect to have a farm before you have a single plant that you know how to grow. Please follow my suggestions to read the FAQ and do some searching here. There are hundreds of postings by knowledgeable people who have already answered your questions - read what they have to say, learn from what you've read and your own experiences, and you'll have your Aloe farm - it just won't be tomorrow, OK? A few free facts: 1) Overwatering has killed more Aloes than there are carp in the Carpathians 2) There are hundreds of Aloe species and perhaps as many hybrids, too 3) It isn't known exactly where the real Aloe vera comes from, but it's believed to be the Horn of Africa / Arabian Peninsula area And there you have it. You've got lots of reading to do, so eat well, hydrate, and get lots of sleep.