Agave Care, Photos & Varieties

About Agaves

Most agaves are unfazed by harsh sun, high heat and minimal water. Their statuesque, fountainlike forms lend a sculptural element to any garden, and contrast beautifully with fine-textured plants. They also make good firebreak plants and security fences.

Pests & Problems

Agave snout weevil is a major concern. ALL agaves are vulnerable to this serious, rapidly spreading pest. Find out how to prevent and treat snout weevil. 

Growing Conditions

Being indigenous to the New World (the American Southwest, Mexico and Central America), larger agaves store enough moisture to get by on rainfall alone and will thrive in nutrient-poor soils.

Although agaves like water, their roots---like those of most succulents---will rot in waterlogged soil. Plant them in coarse soil that drains well. 

With the exception of a few soft-leaved and variegated varieties, agaves want sun---the more the better in all but desert climates.

Pruning

When cutting a damaged leaf, keep in mind that a straight-across cut at its midsection will spoil an agave's symmetry. It's best to make two cuts that trim the leaf to a "V" that resembles the leaf's natural tip. Or cut the leaf all the way to the trunk. See how.

Containers

Agaves smaller than basketballs make excellent potted plants. Small agaves---there are many---look best displayed one to a pot. And any large species, when young, is fine in a container.

About those spines

Sharp points at leaf tips and along leaf edges can make agaves treacherous. If this is a concern, snip about a quarter inch from needlelike tips with garden clippers.

Propagation

Large agaves that pup (not all do) can be garden thugs. They'll grow and spread rapidly, especially when given good soil and regular irrigation.

One of the most widely grown is A. americana (century plant), because it offsets so prolifically (free plants!) and needs no care at all...until those pups start to get big and form an unruly, ever-expanding colony.

Scroll down to the Agave Gallery for smart alternatives to A. americana.

Life Cycle

All but a few agaves are monocarpic, meaning they bloom once and then die. This may take as many as 25 years, but it will happen.

As it completes its life cycle, a mature rosette that has graced a garden for years sends up a tall flower stalk. Most, but not all, branch. The plant puts all its energy into flowering and eventually dies

Some of the larger flower stalks are so thick that they need to be cut apart with a chainsaw to remove them.

Flowers along the stalk eventually turn into miniplants (bulbils) or seed capsules from which new agaves can grow.

Only the individual agave that flowers dies. In some cases---notably Agave americana species---a litter of pups will carry on.

Hardiness

Most agaves can handle cold into the 20s F if kept dry, and some go a lot lower. Based on info from agave experts and nurseries, I include the lowest temperature those shown in my Agave Gallery can handle.