Can this pot be saved????
This is what was left of the Agave salmiana, (or a close relative), after the hail storm ...
I thought maybe if I trimmed off the bad pieces the plant could be saved. One cut led to another and I ended up with this. Yes, you may laugh ...
Then I realized the pot was in danger of being broken by any future expansion of the agave base. So decided to try to remove the plant.
Ladies, wanna' build up your muscles? Try this: saw off the sides of the agave trunk so the soil could be exposed.
The bucket was almost filled with the pieces that were cut away ...
The hose end sprayer was set on 'jet' and blasted away at the soil. I dug out what I could with hands and a trowel, but it was slow going. Maybe the center needs to be cut out for better access. The folding saw does the job ...
More jet spraying, digging, prying and pulling stuff our from under the rim of the pot -- almost there ...
VOILA!!! After years of frustration the pups are released at last, but destined for the recycle bin ...
Whew -- all cleaned and ready for another 20 years of service -- YAY!!!!
Now, the question is: what to plant in it?????
Any and all ideas are welcomed. Just not an agave ... :-)
P.S. Wear glasses and gloves when cutting into an agave, and take a shower right after. The sap on many species is toxic. Even the fumes and small invisible droplets rising from sawing a leaf can cause the skin on the face and arms to be irritated. Wash the gloves and the tools before using again.
Mara, this agave came from you through Patty before I started going to swaps. Thank you. I enjoyed it and the pups it produced before going into this pot and have passed many of them around.
Comments (22)
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
Can a young pot-bound tree with circling roots be saved?
Comments (9)Next time you go to buy a tree, pull it out of the pot before you buy it. At least in a normal pot, you should see fine roots around the outer surface of the rootball. You may even see a few that are a little larger, but they should not be so big that you cannot either straighten them out (when you are planting the tree) or prune them away (without worrying about hurting the plant). At planting, you really don't want any roots circling around the rootball or kinked in knots. Your tree's roots will grow larger and larger as the tree grows, so picture the rootball as all those roots grow many times their current size. If all the roots are locked into a tight ball (or pot-shaped cylinder), the trees root system will not be sufficient to support the tree or supply water and nutrients. Even if some roots are able to grow out away from the tree, a potbound rootball will become more congested with age, and failure will become more and more likely. Some people even recommend complete removal of all potting material during the planting process. They believe that poor root system structure is so important, that the extra shock, brought on by bare rooting, is worth it. Personally, I prefer a more modest approach. I remove a lot of the excess potting material, but leave all that I can while still being able to ensure that all the roots are straightened out and growing away from the tree. Usually, I form a cone at the base of the plant that allows the roots to radiate away from the base of the tree and slightly down into the soil. If you have questions about this, please let me know. Sometimes describing things like this in few words is not easy. Also, see the link below for what I hope are very helpful instructions about how to plant a tree or shrub. Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub...See Morepotting a fully loaded plant to save pods
Comments (5)We had hard freezes friday and sat nights. Thursday I dug up my Choc hab, tabasco (which was- and still is HUGE), serrano, and various ornamentals. I just dug them up and put them in pots and they are doing great. I've got to get some potting mix as they are currently in garden soil and I know that's not going to last long. The serrano is stressing the most, but it appeared to have something similar to a tap root and I broke it off. the rest aren't hardly stressing at all, but then they are in a greenhouse and not the house. All were covered in fruit. I'm waiting to see how they do before I repot them in a soilless mix. So far no one has lost any fruit and a few on the tabasco are ripening. I wouldn't prune the roots anymore than what would result from digging up, but that's just a guess. Pam...See MoreSaving Last Season's Potting Mix for Reuse
Comments (6)I have been "recharging" potting soil for a heck of a lot of years. I don't know how DigDirt defines the recharging process, but here is what I do: Each October, I empty all of my containers, window boxes, flower pots, etc onto a pile of junky stuff I have gathered all summer which includes grass clippings, failed startups, Holiday gift plants, (the good garbage goes into my tumbler-type composter). About the end of March. I get out there on a nice day and screen the whole mess and store the resulting product in barrels which I use later to fill my containers for the new year. I "recharge" the sifted stuff with a bit of lime, a few shovels full of aged manure, a bit of an organic fertilizer like Garden Tone, a little time release fertilizer and I am good to go for the new gardening season. The stuff is too expensive to throw away andd too valuable/useful, ecologically, to waste. I have using it primarily for flowers but it should be useful for vegetable gardening as well. Been working for me. Victor...See MoreSaving potting soil in a trash can....plastic? Metal?
Comments (3)I don't understand any issues about "temperature changes" - why would this be an issue when storing potting soil? It's not like freezing (or heat) is likely to harm or damage the stuff!! Galvanized metal containers are not very likely to rust or fall apart any time soon - they are often used as raised planter beds when the larger forms like stock tanks are used for this purpose. And ideally, the soil should be somewhat dry before shifting into any closed storage container otherwise it will become mucky and anaerobic over the winter. While I don't bother to store for winter - all my containers are year round - I do store my extra potting soil in the large plastic storage bins sold by every home improvement store - the 20G lidded totes....See More
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTexwantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years ago
gmatx zone 6
8 years ago
Hareball
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agobostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
8 years agopurslanegarden
8 years agomissouribound
8 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoJust thought I'd let you all know that the big blue pot was replanted with something I already had, Opuntia spinosibacca, which was passed along several years ago by Mara.
I love the way it's long spines pick up light and cast shadows. It shows off much better in this pot on the outside corner of the 'desert deck' where it gets the all day sun that it loves and where the deep yellow red centered flowers can be seen.
I placed a plastic nursery pot inside the blue pot as Mara suggested ...
Whatcha' think?
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
Vulture61