OMG my Big Agave has fallen over

[Andrew Smith]

I lost sight of this topic , Andy, yes with a bit of added JI no3

what ratio to ballast/JI No 3 did you use? 50:50, 25:75 or 75:25?

a bit, no more than 5%. Most Arids don't have much fertiliser, as you want them to grow hard.

Sorry Dave, are you saying no more than 5% ballast or no more than 5% JI No 3. Sorry for misunderstanding!!!!!!!!

[kata]

A whoppa and no mistake

I wonder did one side get more growth than the other?

I ask because it like that with Maples.

[Dave Brown]

A whoppa and no mistake

I wonder did one side get more growth than the other?

I ask because it like that with Maples.

Kata, the problem was the heavy clay it was on and with wetter summers, as well as always wet winters the roots rotted. It started to lean quite a lot as it angles itself towards the sun. When I dug some of the clay away, we had a thunderstorm, and as there no roots in the soil holding it up the wind toppled it into the hole I had just dug

Andrew, I thought I had replied to you obviously not..... The mixture is 95% plus ballast with a small amount of JI3.

[kata]

Thanks Dave,

I understand.

I had good laffs at some of the postings.

But goodness gracious me, its just so huge Dave. One of that size in my back garden and I could throw away the lawn mower

[Renae]

Firstly my suggestion's might seem a bit silly being that I'm In the wrong country.. I have an Agave americana which was at my mum's out of the ground for a year and grew on fine..(Climate?) And my Agave Attenuata's I saw off the stem's and straighten them lower in a new pot whenever they lean and get lanky.. I know this must be different tho..as you're protecting it from rotting and It's HUGE.. Is there gravel in the mix??

[Dave Brown]

Kata, Renae,

The weight was the problem as well as avoiding death of a 1000 cuts It has grown better this last year, but still has not produced pups which is very unusual. It normally produced about 20 per year.

I'll be lucky if my attenuata survives even in a covered area. It is looking very worse for wear at the moment.

[redsquirrel]

i reckon you havent had pups because the roots rotted Dave.now its happy and not life threatened,im guessing you may see far fewer as it is apparent,agaves pup when the roots are damaged or very pot bound,dont know the proper term but it re-generates before it dies

[Dave Brown]

Interesting Darren, but would seem to make sense.

[redsquirrel]

i dont know much about them Dave but have heard if you want to make your agave pup,stick the trowel down and sever some root. im just assuming it is the reproducing before it dies. to me it would make sense being that your agave knew it was unhappy underground of which you knew nothing until it fell over .they do pup anyway under good conditions but maybe not so frequently.i dont know,as i said, just guessing

[Andrew Smith]

Dave, how is your big Agave doing? Has it survived this winter ok? Do you protect it or leave it to fend for itself?

[redsquirrel]

i was wondering the same thing Andrew.about the one at Daves parents house though

[Andrew Smith]

i was wondering the same thing Andrew.about the one at Daves parents house though

Well my Agave Americana - standard blue leaf type - has done ok under it's rain shelter, BUT a couple of leaves that were sticking out from under the cover have gone mushy. Which makes me think it might all be a mushy heap if I had not covered it. It's not small either, not as big as Dave's lovely one though - I'm still talking about his Agave.

[redsquirrel]

check out this one Andrew,another beauty
(it was the inlaws not parents,oops )
big americanas