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Cacti & Succulents

Repotting a foxtail agave

11 years ago

I have a very old (15 year old +) pot bound foxtail agave in a large pot. Over the years I've just cut off the rosettes when they break or get too large and now I have a rosette that is about one foot wide. I cut out two or three babies and am potting them up separately. Two questions: How large a pot should I use for the one foot rosette on a 10 inch stem? and After I cut away the extraneous roots, will they grow another plant if I pot up only the extra roots into some fresh soil?

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Comments (4)

cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
11 years ago
Could you post a picture of the plant? I don't know this one and my advice would be greatly enhanced (or, rather, what I could tell you) if I saw the plant in question.

You can load it directly from your computer to here - no need for a photo-hosting site (although those can be used, too).
bibbus 7b
Original Author
11 years ago
I got the picture of the foxtail agave, or agave attenuata, off the web and my rosette isn't quite as large but close. Thank you.
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Thanks, guys. Nancy, there were 4 of them in there and they went many times around the pot each....one was over 3.5 feet long! I untangled all of the roots but much of them are brown and dried up like twigs...I cut and cut but couldn't find one with a lighter colored middle. There were a few slightly thicker roots that were alive, but not too many. Amazing to see this thing alive on the top when so much of it is a goner on the bottom. With the pup roots so long, I wasn't comfortable folding them all into the pot - I'd be repotting in 6 months, which I don't want to do. So I cut four of them off and folded the shortest one (about a foot long) in with the head aiming towards the top -- about an inch below the surface. Is that about right? I don't know if they're young with such incredibly long roots - but clearly they've been twirling in there for ages. I took the three feet long pieces and cut them down to about a foot, and placed them on a shelf on the north side of the house until I figure out if these can just be buried in a pot, or if cutting them off from the parent killed them. I'm okay if that's the case...I'm just trying to bring the parent back and keep it alive! All of the tips are dried. Do I cut that part off? If I cut the dried/burnt(?) tips off, will the leaf itself still live? I did snip off all of the completely dead leaves. Thanks!!
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cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
11 years ago
Talk about coincidence - another poster asked about the same plant today, too, using the same common name!

Depot it and you could likely cut off a third of the roots, set aside for a day or so, and repot in the same pot / different (larger) pot with fresh soil. How large depends on the rootball you wind up with after trimming it, but I'd give it an inch or three all around. Wait a few days after repotting before you water again. The cut-off roots may grow another plant, but I wouldn't bother - your mother plant will do the same soon enough.

This post was edited by cactusmcharris on Mon, May 6, 13 at 23:33
bibbus 7b
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you so much. You are right, I already have 3 babies right now and I have another rosette that interestingly I cut off more than two years ago. The rosette didn't start losing leaves for more than a year! It was the best cut "flower" I've ever had! Its now been about 2 and a half years and it still hasn't died. I plan to plant it outside to see what it does. No roots on it for more than two years. Isn't that amazing? really appreciate your advice on repotting.

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