Our friends over at Gardenista are sharing these simple step-by-step instructions for turning your lonely little aloe plant into an aloe grove. It’s the beginning of beach season here in LA, and by the season’s end our poor little aloe plant is usually hacked to bits by our beach-going friends and family. The chubby, cooling leaves bring instant healing relief to sunburned shoulders and foreheads!

There’s no better time, then, to learn how to multiply this little ‘living medicine cabinet’ into several offshoots we can use to spread the love! Here’s Gardenista with the DIY deets…

There are more than 250 species of aloe in the world, but it is aloe vera (also known as Aloe barbadensis) or “true aloe” that is most commonly associated with health benefits. Though the debate still rages around the more extreme claims of aloe’s miraculous powers, most people agree that it does help with minor skin injuries.

Here’s how to propagate that skin-soothing house plant…