How to Grow Agave

Choose a sunny spot with well drained soil. Enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.  In areas with heavy or clay soil, to help improve soil structure and drainage, add gypsum and mix in well.

Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball.  Remove the plant from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.

Position in hole and backfill with soil, gently firming down. Form a raised or doughnut shaped ring of soil around the outer edge of the plant's root zone. This helps keep water where it's needed.  Always water in well after planting to settle the soil around the roots and keep the soil moist for several weeks while the new plant establishes.

Mulch around the base with organic mulch like bark chips, sugarcane or pea straw, keeping it away from the trunk.

Water deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions.

Feed in Autumn and Spring with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser to promote strong root development and healthy colourful foliage.

Pick a variety that can be grown in a pot.  Choose a pot at least twice the width and depth of the rootball. Position in full sun.

Fill chosen pot with quality potting mix, such as Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter.  Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.

Position in hole in centre of pot and backfill with potting mix, gently firming down. Water in well.

Water deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions.

Feed in Autumn and Spring with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser to promote strong root development and healthy colourful foliage.

• Once an Agave has flowered, the plant will slowly die but not before it has produced numerous offsets or suckers at the base that can be detached to start afresh.
• Agave americana was named 'century plant' because it was thought to live that long before producing a flower.  However, the real time is more like twenty to thirty years.  This species is plain green but there are some attractive forms striped cream or yellow.  Creamy-yellow flower spokes may reach 4-6m in height.
• An outstanding feature plant is the slow-growing Agave victoriae-reginae. Its dark-green leaves are attractively patterned in white, but the tips are very sharp.  
• Some Agaves are frost-tolerant while others need warm conditions.
• Some species have sharp spines on the leaf margins which can be dangerous.
• Sap of some Agave species can be irritating to skin. 
• Leaves can be damaged by hail.
• Suckers can be separated from the base anytime, and treated like large cuttings.
• Agaves strike easily from cuttings. Cut the stem to the desired length under the head of the plant and leave it in a cool, dry place for a few days so the wound can callous over. Pot it up in a cacti and succulent potting mix, like Yates Speciality Potting Mix Cacti & Succulents.

Agaves are fairly hardy and is usually not prone to pests or disease. If you have had a lot of rain lately, it could be that the plant may have received too much water and the soil is saturated to a point where it is affecting the plant.

In winter, Agaves don't require a lot of water and this may be the reason for the tips going brown and the leaves yellowing. It might be a good idea to move away any mulch from the base of the plant where excess water may be gathering.