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patrick_nh

Agave propagation

patrick_nh
17 years ago

Can agave cuttings be rooted? If so, do variegated varieties retain the variegation when propagated this way, or do they revert to normal?

Comments (8)

  • little_dani
    17 years ago

    Agave can be propagated by seeds, and they will put on pups, but will not root from cuttings.

    So says the American Horticulture Society's A to Z Plant Enclyclopedia.

    Did you know that tequilla is made from agave?

    Janie

  • patrick_nh
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks for the help, but I can't wait the decades that it takes for them to flower, and most variegated plants don't breed true from seed. Not all agaves send off pups, and as luck would have it, I don't think that the one I'm working with does. Yes I know where tequilla comes from. I prefer the plants.

  • little_dani
    17 years ago

    That is why the varigated agave is so expensive.

    You can order seeds for them. Google it and see what comes up. I got my Bird of Paradise plants that way.

    Janie

  • busylizzy
    17 years ago

    Jani,
    I got a Americana Varigata Agave nice size at the local fair here in Pa the end of Sept for 5.00 Seems to be happy sitting in the North window. This is my first Agave wondering what I should feed it and how often.

  • little_dani
    17 years ago

    I am scared to advise you in PA. Our growing conditions are so different.

    However, agave will withstand a lot of cold.

    I seldom feed mine, usually only a handfull of compost in spring is all I do for them. They grow fast, going from a 1 gallon size pot to a 5 gallon size in less than 2 years. When I say a 5 gallon size, I mean it is about 30"-36" across.

    I think that is fast anyway.

    I have several different varieties, from the blue, to green with sawtooth edges, to dark green with smoooooth edges, to sage green and white varigated, to green and yellow varigated, and several in between all that. Striped ones of green and brown, and funny ones that look like they have hairs on the edges.

    I don't know how old they have to be to put on pups, but most of mine do. I have noticed that those that are contained (pot bound?) seem to put the pups on fastest.

    The most important thing to your agave is good drainage. They don't like soggy soil, and would rather be too dry than too wet.

    Good Luck

    Janie

  • little_dani
    17 years ago

    P.S. You got a great deal on an agave for $5.00! I have paid as much as $45.00 for a 1 gallon plant before!

    Janie

  • t_tyler
    16 years ago

    I thought it might be of interest to report that an Agave Americana Margarita in a park near me flowered, but it did not produce seeds. Small bud-like juvenile plants grew from the inflorescence and fell to the ground where the have been taking root. (I guess those are what you call pups?) There was nothing that resembled a fruit or seed to be found.

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