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drmeow3

Harvesting Agave plantlets

drmeow3
9 years ago

My Murphy's Agave flowered this year and now has what appear to be a bunch of plantlets at the top of a 10' stalk. When and how can I go about harvesting them?

Comments (6)

  • mingtea
    9 years ago

    When you chop the stalk just remove bulbils and root in a shallow container with a fast draining medium. Something like cactus soil amended with even more pumice.

    -Ming

  • ChasingCenturies (Arizona 9b)
    9 years ago

    Best to leave them on the stalk for as long as possible, i.e. as long as they continue to grow/thrive. They are easy to pluck off the stalk with your hand, then pot 'em up. In my experience bulbils grow unbelievably fast once rooted.

  • drmeow3
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, Mingtea and Germanstar.

    The stalk is way too tall for me to pluck them off by hand or even see them all that well to see if they are still thriving :). I had assumed that leaving them on for as long as possible was the best option. What I'm not clear on is where the line is before it becomes leaving them on too long. The dust storm last night knocked the stalk down (but I think that was more because it tilted the terracotta pot it is in). I straightened it up but had to tie it to keep the pot up right. Should I not have bothered and just harvest them now? The plant itself does not appear to have uprooted - although it is almost completely yellow now.

  • harolds
    9 years ago

    Your plant will die now that it has bloomed. You'll want to put down a few of those tiny ones if you want to grow another one. Maybe a plant nursery would be interested in buying or trading for the excess ones?

  • grant_in_arizona
    9 years ago

    Neat! If they have formed little proto-roots, or nubbin's, they're definitely ready. I'm sure they would be fine to plant now. I usually just wait until the flower stalk itself starts to turn brown and all flowers are done. "too late" is when they really start to wither due to no more moisture coming in from the stalk/parent plant. You can also pluck a few now and then a few in a few weeks.

    Have fun and keep us posted! I have tons of agaves started from "air babies" as I call them ('bulbils') from A. angustifolia, A. wilmoriana (octopus!) and a few others. So fun.

    Let us know what you do and how it works out. Happy gardening!

  • Lady q rolle
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Notice agave flowers little babies babies bigger than the other should I move some? It's been about 2month now they start coming

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