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How to Care for a Blue Agave Plant
How to Care for a Blue Agave Plant. The blue agave (Agave tequilana) is a large plant, up to 6 feet high with broad and stiff leaves forming an erect rosette. The leaves have a bluish tinge, giving the plant its name. Blue agaves produce a flower spike up to 15 feet high after between five and eight years of growth. Its hearts are used to make...
The blue agave (Agave tequilana) is a large plant, up to 6 feet high with broad and stiff leaves forming an erect rosette. The leaves have a bluish tinge, giving the plant its name. Blue agaves produce a flower spike up to 15 feet high after between five and eight years of growth. Its hearts are used to make tequila, and it makes an excellent landscape plant in USDA Zones 9b and above.
Step 1
Place a potted blue agave plant outdoors in the sunniest available spot. Blue agaves thrive in full sun and are vulnerable to rot in shady or cool conditions.
Step 2
Water your agave during the warmer months of the year only when its soil is almost completely dry. Reduce watering to a minimum during the winter. Do not keep potted agaves on a dish as any excess irrigation water must be allowed to drain away. Fertilize only infrequently using a slow release granular fertilizer.
Step 3
Replant your agave in a bigger pot when its roots completely fill its container or it becomes top-heavy. Use a potting compost formulated for succulents or a standard potting compost mixed in with 33 percent sharp sand. A heavy clay container will prevent agave plants from toppling over.
Step 1
Grow blue agaves in a sunny spot with well drained, preferably sandy soil. A minimum of six hours of sunshine a day is ideal, according to the University of Florida IFAS Extension. Plant on a raised mound in areas prone to flooding.
Step 2
Water garden agaves only during summer during periods of drought or just after planting. Garden-grown agaves rarely need fertilizing but do benefit from mulching with organic matter such as bark chips.
Step 3
Propagate agaves from offsets or pups which appear around the base of the parent plant. Separate the pups once they have developed their own root systems. You can also propagate blue agaves from seeds collected from the flower spikes.
