A reminder of winter and thinking of Plan B.
I finally got round to unwrapping my Agave americana ‘Variegata’ which I had left outside over the winter. On the outside was a layer of plastic bubble wrap over a tripod of canes.
Agave americana 'Variegata' wrapped up for winter
Underneath that was a layer of horticultural fleece.
Agave americana 'Variegata' in fleece
The previous year I was late covering it and it suffered very badly. This time I wrapped it up at the end of October 2009. Was the protection good enough? – especially after four weeks of snow and temperatures down to -12C (57F).
Squidgy leaves
Hmmmm…..five outer leaves have bitten the dust. I am beginning to think I am on a loser here.
Agave americana 'Variegata' looking rather tatty
Yes, you people in warmer climates may laugh – no doubt you have Agaves growing all over the place like weeds and are wondering why I bother. However, my plant is quite old and I do not want to lose it. The trouble is it is lethal when I try to move it undercover which is why I have this drama each year now that it has got bigger. I need to rethink this. Perhaps I will add a duvet next year!
8 comments
Or maybe an electric blanket! How frustrating. I don’t suppose you have a greenhouse?
A duvet sounds good. These plants store water so some frost damage seem inevitable. You are luck that it is only the outer leaves that have suffered. if it had been the inner ones you would probably lose the plant all together. Please do watch out for late frosts. Good luck.
What about building a sort ofhouse around it with canes and fleece (like a mini greenhouse). Not sure if bubble wrap is good idea as read somewhere that it makes the plant sweat too much. You could built a frame and then stuff it with straw?
Some of the issue may be air gap. At Kew Gardens they use a different approach which is to put a kind of tent over the plant, allowing an air gap all the way round and then insulate the outside of the tent, which stops surface water and transpiration causing rot on leaves. Those cheap pop-up cabanas make good plant covers if you cut the bottom out, then put an old duvet or carpet round the outside.
Of course we don’t put blanket around them, but I guess that’s the way to grow things not natural to your place. I am still having trouble growing sweet peas which is definitely foreign here. Four to six inches is about the height they shoot up to, then they wilt and die.
~bangchik
Putrajaya Malaysia
I got my agave into the greenhouse too late. All the outer leaves had squidged into a nasty pulp and I have stripped these all off dug out all the rotting bits of main stem washing all the slimey gunk off under the tap and repotting the unopened upright leaves in the middle. Unlikely to survive I guess but we can but try. It threw off loads of pups last year which I did pot up in the greenhouse but presumably it will be years before they reach any size.
Also the agave got some bacterial rainborne infection on the leaves which weren’t rotten so all those had to come off too and it is sprayed with bordeaux mixture.
Lessons learnt are spray with bordeaux mix as it said in the care instructions and bring into the greenhouse before it snows.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for both your agave and mine but I think yours stands a better chance.
Squidgy, wasn’t that one of Princess Di’s old nicknames? Your poor plant. Someone gave me a baby of the same agave and it does not look good either. At least you have grown yours to a respectable size! I think our “new” cold winters are making it pretty tough to get certain plants through happily. I admire you for trying, though!
Glad to see that it was just the outer leaves that suffered EG and that there is still life in your agave. Sadly I was remiss in giving tlc to my newly acquired phormiums and they are all quite dead. No signs of life yet on either of my two hardy fuchsias :(
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