Originally from Mexico and decorative with its sculptural silhouette, the agave is a succulent plant that is very easy to propagate by taking the many shoots that appear all around the mother plant. Here’s how.
How do agaves reproduce?
Agaves do not produce flowers or seeds every year, so it is not possible to grow them from a conventional seedling.
The life cycle of this succulent plant lasts an average of 15 to 25 years. At the end of all these years, an impressive floral stem that can reach 3 to 4 m in height appears in the center of the plant. When it dries up, the whole plant dies .
Previously, the American agave will have taken care to ensure its offspring by producing numerous suckers all around the mother plant, which are also called suckers . These shoots are connected to the mother agave by fleshy, white and underground roots but located at a shallow depth : the rhizomes.
These releases are sometimes so numerous that they can become invasive . This is why a regular division is advised.
It takes 2 to 3 years before you get a good plant from a shoot that you have grown.
When to cut an agave?
You can collect suckers from the end of winter (February, March) until the end of summer. To do this, mild, dry weather is recommended.
How to make an agave cutting?
Discover all the steps to make an agave cutting from suckers:
- Prepare a mixture of good garden soil and gravel in order to obtain good drainage.
- Half fill a terracotta pot with a hole in the bottom.
- In order to uproot the agave shoot that you want to take , push your trowel all around the. You have to push the tool all the way around this young plant until you find the underground root that connects it to the mother plant. Slice it with a snap.
- The agave plant taken has its own root system, so it is autonomous.
At this level, you have 2 choices:
- If the soil is wet , let your plant dry for 2 to 3 days in the sun and in the open air before installing it in its pot. This technique is also best if your agave cutting is rootless . It is then necessary to leave the young plant in the open air, in a dry place, until the appearance of the first roots.
- If it hasn’t rained for a while and the shoot is already well rooted , you can replant it directly in its container.
- Install it in the center of the pot, fill with the mixture of soil and gravel all around.
Warning ! Take care to leave the base of the agave in the open to prevent it from rotting. - As with the repotting of succulents , do not water: excess humidity promotes the appearance of fungi.
Then keep these young plants in the sun. After a week, you can water again, little but regularly!