Agave Americana BAD NEWS Sep2023

[@martinejaworski9018]

Hope springs eternal in the heart of a gardener....

[@GreenDragan]

Gardeners have to remain optimists. There is always next season.

[@Sandor68]

Thats really unfortunate Dragan and like i mentioned before, I couldn't believe the size difference since last time I had seen it. My two cents would be to leave it and see what happens next year.

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you Sandor! So far most people want to see how it will develop if it is left alone and grow. It is definitely a curiosity to behold. Cheers.

[@ScottyOn1]

I’m not an agave expert, but I agree with Sandor. Good luck man!

[@GreenDragan]

@@ScottyOn1 I will wrap it up as best I can and see what happens next spring.

[@vincenzecalzone8666]

It's a real shame Dragan. Was a beauty while it lasted. There's a finality to this business I guess with the careful risks you take pushing the boundaries. As you no doubt buy into, without risk there's no reward. I suspect it'll grow back strongly, the real question is whether you can tolerate the transition period where it won't look it's best. I'm sure whatever decision you make will be the right one for you. All the best👍

[@GreenDragan]

@@vincenzecalzone8666 everyone is saying to leave it and see what develops next spring. I think I will remove most of the young plants under the base of the plant on the left side and see how she looks next season. Cheers.

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

So very sorry. I have several that next year will be too big to bring inside so I will follow your method. Always love your posts

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you very much Tim! They are very easy to over winter. The key is to keep it DRY. The agaves also grow huge once in the ground so plan ahead. My agave is about 8 feet across after 5 years.

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

I will barely get them in the house this year so I look forward to their forever home next spring.@@GreenDragan

[@GreenDragan]

@@newyorktropicalgarden9364 if you wait for some colder weather the leaves become more flexible and easier to tie up and secure.

[@markboschman1188]

Hey Dragan, that’s a tough break, but I’m with the others, I’d say leave it. It could still regenerate, and I’d be curious to see what happens over winter if you leave it.

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you for watching! We will see how it develops in the spring.

[@leonardholmes]

I wouldn't give up on it. The "internal offsets" are the plant trying to grow a new center I think. Protect it as usual and see what happens next year. You could even pour some hydrogen peroxide down the center like when a palm has spear pull. I think your agave essentially has spear pull.

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you for visiting! I will see what happens next year. Cheers.

[@Daniel-rs6wk]

Hi sir , sorry to ear that. My advice is leave the plant like this with the new leaves between the other leaves and all the pups agave , and maybe in an another part of the garden you can try another big beautiful specimen of agave , let me know what do you think , thanks for the videos as always

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you for your thoughts. The plant is a monster now. If all the young plants are allowed to grow and develop I am not sure how to protect it over winter in our zone 5B climate. It will be interesting to see.

[@briangifford109]

Sad to see it in such a state, but it looks like you have so many off shoots that can take it's place. Almost looks like there something you see with Palms where you get spear pull. But yours was all dry and not wet down the middle. I know the pain of seeing something that you put so much effort into not doing well anymore or die. I was wondering, what was the most extreme zone push you successfully did. What Plant and what zone was it supposed to be hardy to. Thanks as always for you reply and good luck with your garden.

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you for watching! In my zone 5B garden I am continually experimenting with a wider range of tropical and subtropical plants. My goal is not to have the plant die to the ground and resprout but thrive as if it were growing in ideal conditions. Plants that have surpassed my expectations for nearly 10 years include Port St. Johns Creeper zone 9a, white bird of paradise Strelitzia nicolai zone 10a, Bougainvillea 'Royal Purple' zone 10a close to 30 ft. wide and over 27 years in the ground.

[@custodiansrock]

Rember the offshoot you gave me last year? It looked awefull into late July. Well, it rebounded nicely especially when it finally stopped raining every other day. I vote to leave it with a bit of TLC.

[@GreenDragan]

I am glad to here your agave has perked up. So far all the votes are to leave it as is ad see what happens next spring. Cheers.

[@Grrrnthumb]

Hi, sorry to hear about your agave. it's spring now, what did you decide? I've grown agaves in pots for a couple decades now just south of the border here in Washington. I'm very curious how you winterize yours?

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you! I overwinter my agave with a string with a string of C-9 Christmas lights keeping a minimum temp of 25F and keeping the plant dry during winter. The agave can through the winter fine. Many new offsets but the mother plant is not producing new leaves from the center any more. Update video is coming. Cheers.

[@mojciekawyogrodmariuszii966]

Hello, it's a pity that the cone rotted, but I think there is a chance of renaturation. There is still a lot of energy stored in the leaves, so maybe close to the center🤔 (if the rot does not progress), a new cone will appear and continue (while removing all the others). It's a pity that winter is coming, it certainly won't help save the main rosette. I'm curious about the papaya growing in the background, do you ever plan to make a feature about it? Is it regular papaya or mountain papaya? Regards.😎

[@GreenDragan]

The mother plant has no rot. The center is green, only the center leaves had dried up. It is producing many young plants from ground level and from the leave bases. I am growing many papayas from fruit I liked the taste from. There is a future video coming. Cheers. Roślina mateczna nie ma zgnilizny. Środek jest zielony, tylko środkowe liście wyschły. Wytwarza wiele młodych roślin z poziomu gruntu i z podstaw liści. Uprawiam wiele papai z owoców, które podobały mi się w smaku. Nadchodzi przyszłe wideo. Dzięki.

[@Grrrnthumb]

​@@GreenDragan I think your symptoms say it is self evident there is rot, even though you can't see it on the surface. Either from getting too cold/wet during winterization or from growing long term in such a lush, well-watered area when it prefers dry and hot. It's almost impossible to grow agaves with the same watering regime as all those lush tropicals in the same bed. This is what you would expect. The rot is under there. Could be that just a too-high percentage of the roots are rotting for the size of the plant and it decided to abort with parachute pups emergency measures. Perhaps you would consider a different placement in the future where you can control the water more

[@GreenDragan]

@@Grrrnthumb the mother plant stopped producing new leaves during the summer. But many new offset coming from all leaf joints.

[@brocktoon8]

Any update on what you ended up doing? : ) vis a vis did you cut back the old leaves and let the little guys grow or did you choose one outstanding little guy and plant him somewhere?

[@GreenDragan]

I left the agave pretty much intact, covering the whole thing for winter protection. I will do an update when I unwrap the winter protection. Cheers.

[@brocktoon8]

Ooh, I look forward to that, thanks! @@GreenDragan

[@northeasthardytropicals541]

That’s tough, I would say leave it and see what happens.

[@GreenDragan]

I am protecting it this winter so we'll see how it looks next season. Cheers.

[@northeasthardytropicals541]

@@GreenDragan Good luck and keep us updated!

[@brianb2571]

I would 100 percent leave it. Even if the prospects are not good, nothing biological is guaranteed until its properly dead! The plant has wisdom of its own...

[@GreenDragan]

Thank you! I will sit back and see what happens.

[@M.Bodark1608]

Ça c'est pas plaisant du tout , dommage mais il ya des petits autour.

[@GreenDragan]

J'en ai beaucoup d'autres en conteneurs mais il me faudra de nombreuses années pour atteindre cette taille. I have many others in containers but it will take many years to reach this size.