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Cacti & Succulents

Blue Agave repotting/ transplanting pups help.

6 years ago

Hey All! I have a Blue Agave that was in desperate need of a repot/ removal of pups. I have lived in TN and MI since I've owned these and move them indoors for winter. This winter the leaves on them started to turn yellow so I knew when it got warm enough I needed to do some work.

Plant 1 before

Plant 2 before

I was horrified when I pulled them out of the pot. I'm not even sure if there was any soil left in the pot. It seemed to be mostly brown dried up roots? Is that from not watering enough? I fought and broke the pups free. I wasn't really sure how much of the stalk that connects the pup to the main plant needed to stay attached to the pup/mom. Did I cut to much from the main plant or pup? Do I need to remove all the brown stuff?

Plant 1

Plant 2

Pups from plant 2. Again with all the brown (dead?) roots. Do they need to be removed?

I thought I had cactus soil but I didn't so I planted them in regular potting soil and gave them a little bit of water. I'm going to get cactus soil and perilite tomorrow and change the soil. What are y'alls thoughts? I'm worried about the pots on the top left and top right pots? The pups are really white. Will they be ok?

Wish I would have came here for advice before doing this but I feel there was no turning back after taking them out of the pot. I know this is a long post so THANKS and any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Bridget.

Comments (8)

Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Everything looks good:). Most Agaves are pretty tough. You honestly didn't need to pot them up now. You could have waited till tomorrow when you got perlite and C&S soil. Gives the roots a chance to callus over. You have sooo many Agaves. Certain Agaves are super prolific:).

You thought yours was root bound. I unpotted one of mine about 3 months months ago. Holy smokes was that thing root bound! The white baby Agave reminds me of a crab claw;).
B M
Original Author
6 years ago
Wonderful news! Thanks! I thought about letting them just chill outside of soil for the night but I was too worried they wouldn't like having there roots exposed to the air that long. I like the white ones too, they remind me of white asparagus. Will the eventually turn green? Next time I do something like this should I try to get more of the brown dead stuff off. Part of me wants to pull it all off tomorrow when I put the correct soil in the pots. :/
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I have transplanted in the high hundreds of agave attenunata in Southern California in the way I described at pretty much every time of year over the course of a couple decades. I don't know why GeeS thinks it would kill the plant. Must not be from around here. Another Landscape Architect friend of mine has about 2000 sqft of the stuff and whenever they get too long for the look he is going for we just go at them with a pruning saw and replant everything. I have even filled up a pickup truck with the stuff after demoing a landscape, let it sit in another friends backyard for a few months, then stuck them in full sun without roots in the heat of August and they didn't die. They might turn a little yellow and the bottom leaves might shrivel up but those guys are pretty tough.
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Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
6 years ago
Just pull off what you can when it comes to the brown stuff. Don't force anything. You don't want to rip anything off that's not brown on accident;). Whatever you've done I'm sure is fine.

Ya the white ones will turn normal just keep them out of any harsh sun. They would burn in no time. You may loose some of those white babies their pretty fresh. I wouldn't worry you've got tons:).
B M
Original Author
6 years ago
Great. I will move the white guys since I have seem in full sun right now. Thanks so much!
B M
Original Author
6 years ago
I checked on the plants today and noticed some of the leaves starting to turn yellow at the tips. Also one of the momma plants is seeming to turn yellow. I changed there soil to 50% S&C w/ 50% perilite Tuesday, water them and moved them to a cover porch to get acclamated to being outside. Should I be doing something different?
B M
Original Author
6 years ago
Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
No I think they're fine. A little shocked I'm sure. I wouldn't water for a couple weeks tbh. I know that can sometimes be hard, but I think they may need to dry out a little. Plus their roots aren't in tip top shape right now. Give em a couple weeks to heal.

I wouldn't worry too much. I've had Agave cuttings in my garage for like 3 months. As long as you keep them dry they'll snap back:).
B M
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks. That's what I was thinking but wanted to double check. These are the oldest plants I have (5 years) so I'm attached.

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