Plant Propagation

Agave potatorum

Agave potatorum is the first Agave I ever bought, as I remember I was attracted to the bluey coloured leaves. The great thing about this Agave is that it is really easy to propagate from. It grows lots of pups and has been propagated from now about 3 times.

Agave potatorums

In the photo above the original Agave I bought was the larger one at the back. The other 3 were propagated from pups from this plant. Now they are growing pups and today I’m going to remove the pups from them all.

Agave potatorum pups

Now, removing the pups on this Agave is the fun bit as it does have very sharp needles at the ends of the leaves. The way I go about it though is to get some really long scissors, remove some of the stones below the pups and then just position the scissors in as far underneath as possible and cut them away. Sometimes you get some with roots and sometimes without roots but either way it doesn’t matter.

Some have roots and other don't.

Once you have detached the pups I then just treat them with some plant starter and then pot the ones with roots into 5cm tubes and the ones without go into a larger pot until they grow some roots. Pretty easy really.

Agave potatorum pups without roots.

Agave potatorum pups with roots.

Once these pups are ready for the ground I might even plant a few more around the three in the garden and the others I’ll probably just give away.

Agave potatorum is probably one of my favourite Agaves. It’s not as fast growing as Agave attenuata but then again it doesn’t grow as large so it’s probably not meant to be.

So there you have it. If you’ve got the patience just buy one Agave potatorum and then just let it multiply.

Possibly Related Posts:

Posted in Agave, Garden Plants, Gems, Information, Plant Propagation | Tagged Agave, Agave potatorum, drought tolerant plant | Leave a comment

Agave attenuata

Agave attenuata certainly is an Agave that has become quite popular in Australian gardens in recent times. It’s large fleshy leaves really are quite attractive. The only problem with this plant is that as it grows a trunk it tends to fall over. Because of this though it is probably best to give it some space and let it eventually grow into a bush.

In my garden though I placed two together in a confined area and as a consequence I’ve had to cut them back. The great thing about this Agave though is that it is very easy to propagate from. As the main stem grows it will also send off some offshoots called pups. When it does this you then have three options.

You can either leave it as it is to then grow into a bush, you can cut off some or all of the pups to propagate from and leave the main plant or if you like you can leave the pups to grow into a bush, cut off the main plant and then propagate from that.

In his instance I chose to cut off the main plants as they were growing as if they were falling over and obscuring some other plants.

Agave attenuatas

In the photo above the two smaller plants on the left were the pups that were left after I cut of the main plant about 12 months ago. The main plant, I propagated and is now growing quite happily in a pot. The larger one on the right is now about to get the same treatment.

Agave attenuata pups. If I had more room I would have just left the 5 pups to grow into a bush.

In this photo you can see the stump that remains from the main plant as well as the 5 remaining pups and surprise, surprise there is also a small Agave stricta nana growing as well that I forget was even there as it was obscured by the main Agave attenuata. Next I then removed 2 of the pups that I didn’t want and propagated from them.

Agave attenuata cuttings/pups

Agave attenuata cutting in tubes

I just soak the ends in some Multicrop plant starter and the place them into some 5cm tubes as shown and then just wait for the new roots to appear.

Agave attenuata cutting. This is the main plant that I cut off.

As far as the main plant goes I drip some of the above mentioned plant starter into the base of the cut trunk, let it soak in and then just plant it into a pot with normal potting mix. Once again it’s just a matter of waiting for the new roots to grow.

So there you have it, Agave attenuata. This Agave is easy to grow and easy to propagate from. It does grow a little quicker than some of the other Agaves I have in my garden but I have noticed though it doesn’t appear to be as drought tolerant as some of the other Agaves I have growing in my garden. Then again this Agave is still pretty drought tolerant compared to most other plants.

If you’d like to read about another Agave, Agave potatorum is another one that just like Agave attenuata is easy to grow and easy to propagate from.

Read my update on this post. It’s about the Agave attenuata cutting I took 12 months previous to this one. Growing Agave attenuata in a pot.

Possibly Related Posts:

Posted in Agave, Garden Plants, Information, Plant Propagation | Tagged Agave, Agave attenuata, drought tolerant plant | 8 Comments

Free Plants, Propagating Plants from Cuttings.

Do you really need a Greenhouse or Heated Propagating trays?

There are plenty of articles and websites on the internet where you can learn how to propagate plants from cuttings. Most require some degree of expertise, a greenhouse or heated propagating tray and a bit of an investment in your cost and time. But here’s a really quick, easy and cost effective way for the home gardener to propagate a few extra free plants for the home garden.

This is a method I learnt from my mother a few years ago and she’s been using it to propagate lavenders and all sorts of similar plants for years. I’d hate to guess the amount of plants she’s propagated over the years from cuttings using this method. One of her favourite things to do in the garden was to plant lavender hedges so she must have propagated hundreds of lavenders using this method.

So here’s what you do;

Eremophila Calorhabdos Flowers.

First choose your subject and take some cuttings. I’ve chosen Eremophila Calorhabdos today because I want to grow a small hedge from it.

Now the next bit is common knowledge but I’ll repeat it anyway. Make sure that your subject is well hydrated before you take your cuttings. Give it a good watering the night before with Seasol and water.

Then take the cuttings early in the morning before the sun gets too hot. Now having said all of that I threw caution to the wind as today was a cold wet day and I really only decided to do this at lunch time so I just went ahead took the cuttings anyway. We’ll see what happens.

I've used 16 tubes and taped them together.

16 5cm tubes taped together.

The next thing is to prepare your containers. I’m using 5 cm square tubes that have been used before so I’ll use a diluted solution of household bleach and water to clean them. If you want, you can spend the extra money and buy some fungicide from the garden centre but I reckon the bleach works just fine. In fact I’ve done this before without even cleaning the tubes, so it’s really up to you.

Next I use a middle of the range potting mix as a propagating medium. Now I know you’ve probably all heard that you should use a special propagating medium that’s made up of all sorts of stuff that will maximise the chances of your cuttings developing roots. I’ve tried these in the past and they obviously work but I’ve found that potting mix does as well. So it’s up to you. If you want to spend the extra money on the propagating mix then that’s fine.

Next I up I prepare my cuttings.

I cut 2 branches and then cut them into 8 cuttings each about 6 inches/15cm long.

How you go about this is up to you. I’ve read some really in depth methods about this in the past that make it sound like it’s some new type of science. I just cut them to length and then put a small nick in the end that goes into the potting mix. If you want you can experiment with different types of cuttings from different parts of the plant.

Now before the cuttings go into the tube I then soak them in some Multicrop plant starter for a few seconds and then push them into the potting mix. Then just water them in, put them in a shady, cool area and then just be patient. I don’t use a greenhouse or plastic bag to keep them dehydrated. Just keep them in a cool area and keep them damp. Then just sit back and be patient.

I’ve done this on the 2nd day of winter so they probably won’t be ready until spring. In the warmer months they will obviously be a bit quicker.

Place them in the shade, keep the media wet and just be patient.

This whole operating took less than ½ an hour, cost me next to nothing and all I have to do is give the cuttings a quick water every day or so, so they don’t dry out.

Some of the plants my mother has propagated from cuttings using this method are Lavenders, Roses, Buddleia, Geraniums, English Box, Oleanders, Hydrangeas and lots, lots more.

Plants that I’ve propagated from cuttings using this simple method are Banksias, Proteas, Leucadendrons and Eremophila. Others include Succulents, Cactus, Dracaenas, Yuccas, Aloes, and Agaves, but these are easy to propagate anyway as you can propagate most of these by just placing a cutting in the ground.

So do you really need a Greenhouse or Heated Propagating trays to propagate plants from cuttings? Well if you’ve already got this equipment then why wouldn’t you want to use it? But if you haven’t, then why not give this method a try. Experimenting in the garden is fun and so is propagating plants from cuttings. It’s a great way to grow lots of free plants especially if you want to grow a hedge. Let me know how you go.

Happy Propagating!

Possibly Related Posts: