Hi,
I have just planted some 300mm potted Agave in my backyard about 1 month ago and they look like they are already dying! The leaves have turned yellow and are wilting. Any help??
Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Agave dying! 2Oct 24, 2012 4:40 pm What is your soil like? Good drainage? They don't like wet feet. You could remove them then mix in some sand then replant them. Re: Agave dying! 4Oct 24, 2012 7:27 pm Season won't help agaves. They need a well draining soil. Clay soils are no good. Get the agaves out, get working on the soil. Need to break up the clay soil. My agaves are in pots. They are in half soil and half sand. I never fertilize them, hardly water them and they are going great guns. Agaves originate from the deserts in Mexico. So sand and sun. Though they do seem to do well in half shade, but the drainage is the key. Re: Agave dying! 5Oct 24, 2012 8:27 pm Strange problem, sco77k, agaves are almost impossible to kill! So, I would firstly ask where did you get them from, did you buy them from nursery in pots? Did they have any little roots on their little trunks when you planted them? And did you water them immediately upon replanting? BTW, I had agaves in hard clay with virtually no drainage and they were really happy (too happy, grew too large!). They will definitely grow anywhere and will thrive on complete neglect, ie. zero of any kind of fertilizer, almost no water, OR too much water - doesn't matter - they adapt, poor things I wouldn't waste seasol on them Eagerly awaiting more info ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Agave dying! 6Oct 25, 2012 6:14 am I bought them from a decent nursery in Sydney they were massive when I bought them. The root system was really compacted in the pot so I broke them up a bit. I planted them and watered straight away. I haven't watered them a lot but there has been some heavy down pour in Sydney lately. The plants are in full sun and almost look like they've been burnt? I did mix in some good potting mix into the soil before I planted also. How are they with extreme heat? Today is meant to be 36 where I am so worried they will die off considering their condition. Re: Agave dying! 7Oct 25, 2012 7:04 am I was immediately inclined to say "wait and see" but just thoguth there were some "special" circumstances. But no, this all seems standard to me. So, yes, I would wait and see what happens. Very large mature agave can simply be cut across their trunk and replanted like that and they will still strike - they are that bullet proof. Now, I have also about a month ago removed some small agaves from their parent(s??) and replanted them. They were ranging from about 10-20cm in diameter. I could swear that they had almost no roots on their own, except maybe a few of those completely exposed which you could see "in the air". I planted them into freshly turned over clay a month ago and gave them a bit of water then and maybe once or twice since then (!). Yesterday I had to move them and was shocked to see the new roots they have already grown! Cute things ... BUT, like you say, I have to say that they do look very yellow and sad on the surface, with me not taking care of their fragile leaves during handling. I think I can see a nicer, more normal shade of green in the middle of the plant, where the new spikes are coming from, so I think they will be totally fine after a while. So that's why I think yours will be fine too (although a close up pic could help). And just to be sure, maybe your agave are suffering the lack of water. Be aware that your plants might not be getting almost any water that you give them! It is easy to overlook this, even if your soil is freshly dug over because a "sealed film" is created on the surface after a short while. Soil can be water repelent, especially clay, so test it. Water a bit and then stop, take a little garden fork and check if the soil is actually saturated with water. Mine was bone dry with soil splashing around in dust pieces (this was around some other shrubs which were planted only 2 days ago into soil that's been super worked up!!!!). So just work it up thoroughly with your little garden fork (or whatever) and then water in deeply as you make the spikes, I mean do it simultaneously. (And BTW, never water the leaves, only water the soil and with proper stream, not sprinkle.) So today I'm going to do this again. Also good idea is to make some little holes/indentations in the soil around the base of your plants because they will stop the water sliding around, it will pool into them and eventually soak in. Compost helps so much, but this manual procedure does too, just keep it up. If it's not that, and not some weird bugs or disease, I still think they will recover without any help at all, but some organic matter or a tiny bit of seasol might help, and if it helps, nothing after that is needed. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Agave dying! 9Jan 01, 2019 10:13 am Have y o u cheked for the agave snout weavele these can be very serious in agave plant and while leaving your plqnts is a good idea as thay are hardy you should first chek if it is a snout weavele just to be safe xx My beautiful agave was healthy and gorgeous a few weeks ago. I walked outside today, and now it looks like this. 😠Is it from the cold weather? I live in South… 0 2330 |