In a bed with sandy, fast-draining soil and full sun exposure, dig a hole. The base of the agave’s foliage crown should be 1/4 inch above the surrounding soil. To allow enough room for spreading, space many agaves at least 12 to 18 inches apart. During their first summer in the garden, water to a depth of one inch every seven to ten days.
Do agaves transplant well?
Agave plants (Agave spp.) do well in desert gardens and dry, sandy soils. Depending on the cultivar, they grow in USDA plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. Agaves have a long flowering cycle and can live for eight to 60 years after flowering, despite the fact that they die after flowering. Because these desert succulents transplant well and endure disturbance, you can move them to a new location at any time during the growing season in the spring and summer.
How do you transplant a large agave?
Dig a hole for the puppy that is at least twice as wide as it has to be. (Because most agaves have shallow, spreading roots, width is more significant than depth.)
Back-fill with a 1:1 mixture of a cacti-succulent soil mix and the ground dirt after placing the pup in the hole and spreading out the roots.
Place the plant’s crown high in the ground and don’t cover it with anything, even mulch. This is to keep crown rot at bay. In any case, it’ll sink a little over time.
Can you replant agave without roots?
As frequent readers know, I’m moving this week, and I’ve sworn to take my beloved ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (Agave ovatifolia) with me rather than leave it to the whims of fate and a new owner who might not appreciate its spiky qualities.
Agaves are normally unconcerned about being dug up and relocated. The larger the plant, the heavier it is and the more difficult it is to move. There’s a potential that the move will cause the plant to bloom as a result of the stress. This doesn’t happen very often, and when it does, it’s usually with older plants. Because Agave ovatifolia was first formally identified as a species in 2002 and commercially available only a few years later, I’m going to guess you don’t have a fully mature plant, despite its size.
The simplest solution is to dig it up and replant it in its new spot straight away, but that is probably not an option for you. You can wrap burlap around it like a tree if you can dig around it and get it out of the ground with the roots remaining in a ball of dirt. Because agaves’ roots are usually very long and not particularly dense, the dirt will most likely slip off, leaving you with a mostly bare root plant. That’s fine; agaves aren’t fussy about being bare-rooted. Trim the roots down to roughly a foot from the plant’s base and remove any dead leaves if this happens. Agaves are usually fairly easy to re-root. All you have to do now is pot it until you’re ready to relocate it and replant it which is probably easier said than done. I’d try to fit it into a 24-inch shallow (18-inch-deep) pot. You can safely remove a couple of the plant’s healthy lower leaves to get soil into the pot. Keep in mind that I’ll be impressed if you can achieve all of this without letting the plant take any of your blood.
I got a shallow, plastic tub supposed to be used as a pond liner for $12 at Lowe’s. It appeared to be an appropriate temporary containment for the large, blue whale, with a dozen holes made in the bottom. When I placed it next to the agave, though, it shriveled dramatically. Is there any way it could fit in there? But, oh well. Keep going!
To get a shovel beneath the plant, start by trimming off the lower leaves. Without having to come too near, my long-handled pruners performed a wonderful job of slicing through the luscious, fibrous leaves.
Some of the leaf fibers, however, were uncuttable and required cutting with a handsaw while leaning very close. I moved slowly and deliberately, trying to keep track of all the spines in the area around my face and neck.
I didn’t take a photograph of the next level since I was physically unable to do so. I dug all around the plant’s base, hoping to find a good-sized root ball. I tried levering the plant up with the shovel once I’d dug deep enough to get under and cut the main roots. There’s no way. The agave appeared to be as heavy as a whale and refused to budge.
Sweat was dripping down the inside of my goggles, I was cleaning my sweaty face with gloves soaked with agave juice from chopped leaves, and my face was immediately stinging and itching like crazy. As I hurried inside to obtain a damp towel and wipe my face with soap and water, a few choice remarks escaped my lips. Okay, there’s no harm done. Take a clean towel outside to mop up the puddle I’m about to become in another 10 minutes.
I excavated a narrower circumference around the agave and attempted to re-lever it. It swayed. I dug some more and levered again, feeling encouraged. It began to raise on one side, then the other. Success! However, how do you take it up and place it in the plastic tub?
The issue about agaves is that they don’t come with handles, which is obviously obvious to everyone else but wasn’t to me. You can’t bend in to lift the root ball without risking a thousand-point death penalty. Because the bottom leaves are coated with thorns, you can’t grab them to pull them, and they’re also quite delicate, snapping like a Saltine cracker if you apply any pressure. Because they’re so dense and heavy, you can’t pick them up with your shovel. I couldn’t simply ignore the mess until my spouse returned home to assist. What if a potential buyer contacted right now to schedule a showing? I sat and pondered the hauling experiences of my fellow garden bloggers, and one in particular came to mind.
I decided that sliding it would be simpler if it was in the tub, so I pushed up with the rope on one side, then the other, wedging the tub more under the agave with each pass. I was poked in the knee a couple times, but no blood was lost!
It’s not over yet! I needed to put the potted agave on a wheeled dolly now. I’ll leave the intricacies of levering, lifting, and avoiding unpleasant spikes in the face to you. I eventually triumphed, and the agave is now happily relaxing in the back yard, waiting for the next big thing. I just hope I got enough of its roots to save it.
Update: If you’re wondering if the agave grew back, the answer is yes. Continue reading to learn about Moby’s later exploits and final natural death and resurrection! (Yes, I’ve given this agave a name and a special place in my heart.)
Can you cut an agave stem and replant?
Annie is the webmaster. Yes, the top can be taken off and replanted. Leave enough stem to keep it stable in the soil, but not more than 10cm.
Do agave have deep roots?
Agave Potting and Repotting Agaves, like many succulents, have shallow roots. Because they don’t require much soil, you can grow them in a small container.
How deep do agave roots go?
As a general, agave roots are fibrous and stay in the top 24 to 36 inches of soil, spreading out as the plant matures, thus a 30′ agave will likely have roots in a 40′ circle and 2 to 3 feet deep.
How do you grow bare root from agave?
Until ready to plant, keep bare-rooted plants in a cool, shady spot. Although it is preferable to plant them as soon as possible, I have had Agaves out of the ground for a year or more. When replanting, should I mix the soil and sand 50/50? The “dirt” here, if you can call it that, is awful, basically compacted sand.
How do you root agave water?
Adding a good, large fat green Agave plant in a jar with waterthe bigger the betteris a stunning solution for the low-maintenance plant enthusiast.
The agave plant will live, sprout roots, and become enormous as long as it receives some indirect sunlight and the water is refreshed every couple of weeks.
I’m not sure where you reside, but here in Southern California, these plants grow like weedsthey’re everywhere!!
Just remember to leave a short section of the stem connecting the smaller plant (called a ‘pup’) to allow another ‘pup’ to develop in its place when removing it from the mother plant. I enjoy watching the plant’s roots curl and twirl in the glass jar.
These gorgeous and economical recycled glass vessels from World Market are ideal for this.
However, any old carafe or a basic cylindrical glass vase, such as the one in the first photo, might be used. I believe they’d be great as a centerpiece on a beautiful dinner table, but where would you put one of these puppies?
Do agave leaves grow back?
Agaves are commonly planted in gardens in USDA hardiness zones 8b to 11 because of their drought tolerance and the visual attractiveness of their broad, spiky leaves and towering bloom stalks that can exceed 40 feet in height. Most of the time, the plants require little attention, although they do benefit from occasional trimming to improve their overall appearance. Agaves, on the other hand, dislike excessive pruning and can die back if healthy leaves are removed, so just remove spent flower stalks and any damaged or dead leaves that occur.