Growing Agave Attenuata in a Pot
Agaves are plants that lend themselves to be easily grown in pots and Agave attenuata is no exception. Because of it’s drought tolerance it’s a plant that won’t drop dead if you forget to water it every second day over summer. Another great thing about Agave attenuata is that it’s really easy to propagate from cuttings and the one I’m about to show you is one that I propagated from a large cutting about 18 months ago.
I’d been meaning to repot it for sometime as when I propagated it I placed the cutting in the pot to about 3/4 of the depth of the pot and I could now see the roots starting to appear at the surface of the potting mix so I knew it was starting to get a bit root bound.
The other thing I’d done was place the old black plastic pot I planted in inside a slightly larger clay pot. This is something I commonly do as black pots aren’t the most appealing pots and I don’t always like to plant straight into clay pots as they are porous and can dry out the potting mix before the plant gets the chance to take advantage of all the moisture. My theory is that because the black pot has vertical ribs on the inside it makes the roots grow straight down and stops coiling. It also has better drainage holes at the base as most clay pots only have one small hole in the bottom than can clog with roots after a while (you can drill extra holes in clay pots with a masonry drill which is something I’ve also done).
Also when you want repot your plant the plastic pot usually pulls quite easily out of the clay pot and then the plant pulls easily out of the plastic pot. Well that’s the theory anyway……………but not in this case.
So when it came time to repot my Agave attenuata I couldn’t get the plastic pot out of the clay pot. The roots had coiled so tightly inside the plastic it had expanded so much that it was jammed inside the clay pot. Now normally with most plants I would have had to break the clay pot to get it out but I decided that I was going to put this Agave attenuata to the test and see just how strong those roots were.
My solution was to pull on the short trunk as hard as I could and just pull it out (shock, horror). Now I have to say that there aren’t many plants that I’d do this to but I’d decided that the worst case scenario was that I’d just rip the roots right off the end of the trunk and I’d end up with a stem with no roots, which was pretty much exactly where I was with this plant 18 months ago when it was just a cutting.
So that’s exactly what I did. Pull on the trunk as hard I could. First though I did loosen as much potting mix as I could in an attempt to get it out of the plastic pot. This though, wasn’t going to happen as the roots had grown through the drainage holes and the only way to get it out of the plastic pot was to cut the roots off the bottom. Unfortunately though these were still inside the clay pot so they were inaccessible. So once I’d loosened as much potting mix as possible I pulled on the trunk as hard as I could and eventually with quite a bit of effort, the Agave still attached to it’s roots, plus the plastic pot, came loose from the inside of the clay pot and here’s what it looked like. A tangled mess of roots (and just after 18 months).
Now the decision I had to make was what to do next. For me this was a pretty easy decision.
If you’ve ever watched gardening programs on TV I’m sure you’ve heard the presenter tell you that when planting a plant that you should “take it out of the pot and then carefully tease the coiled roots so they’re nice and straight”.
Well I’d have to say that this is good advice as roots will continue to grow in a circle in the ground if this is what they’d been doing in the pot but I’d also say that there’s no need to be careful about it.
I treat roots like I do branches and limbs and if they need to be pruned then that’s exactly what happens, they get pruned. Now I’d have admit that this is a pretty extreme example of a plant that’s root bound but I also do this to any plant that I plant that has roots that have coiled around the inside of the pot.
Therefore the first thing I did was cut off the excess roots to get the plant out of the black plastic pot. This then exposed the extent of the roots inside the pot. As you can see it was quite root bound inside the pot as well so the next step was to cut off any coiled and crooked roots which was exactly what I did.
This then left me with a nice tidy root ball that was ready to be replanted. The other thing I did was soak the rootball in a diluted seaweed extract mixed with water for a few minutes to help it recover from “it’s surgery”.
It was then a case of either replanting it in the ground or back into the pot. I chose the later and I used the same pot the second around time around again as well. I will have to keep an eye on it though and maybe repot it in 12 months this time instead of 18.
So if you’re growing Agave attenuata in a pot don’t leave it too long to check out if it’s getting root bound and if it is, hopefully you won’t need to go to the same extent I did to remedy the problem.
Agave attenuata has a very extensive root system so I suppose at the end of the day it’s just as well, as that’s just one of the reasons why it’s such a drought tolerant plant.
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Eremophila "Eyre Princess"
Eremophilas would have to one one of my favourite garden plants and one of my favourite Eremophilas would have to be Eremophila “Eyre Princess”.
It’s now the beginning of spring in Melbourne and my Eremophila “Eyre Princess” is now at the height of it’s flowering season. At the moment it is just covered in purplely, blue flowers which are a cross between it’s parents, Eremophila Nivea and Eremophila Drummondii.
Eremophila Eyre Princess
The Eremophila above I’ve had growing in my garden now for nearly 3 years and have found it very easy to grow. It is very drought tolerant, likes lots of sunshine and even looks good when not in flower.
The most amazing thing about this Eremophila though is that I’ve never seen it in a nursery. I actually bought this one at a market and didn’t even know what it was called until a few months ago, as it didn’t come with a label. The retail nursery trade sometimes never ceases to amaze me. For a plant that has so many things going for it, that is obviously very easy to market and especially due to the fact that it is a very drought tolerant plant and easy to grow, I really can’t understand why it isn’t so readily available. Especially since it is so easy to propagate from cuttings. I propagated some of these Eremophilas last spring, using the method for propagating plants describes elsewhere in this blog.
Eremophila Eyre Princess Flowers
The only maintenance this Eremophila needs is be pruned after flowering. I normally just use hedge clippers to snip it into a ball and 5 minutes later the jobs done. It’s that easy and when you do prune it, it will grow more compact and bushier and then reward you with lots of flowers the following year. That’s really all the attention it needs.
So if you do come across this Eremophila in a nursery then give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results. Eremophila “Eyre Princess really is an underused garden plant.
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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.
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!
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- Growing Agave Attenuata in a Pot
