I was given two medium-sized Agave plants. Looks like they were just cut off the main plant. Anything special I need to do when planting? What kind of conditions do they like? I'm assuming desert-like, but welcome your advice. Also, should I assume that they are slow- growing?
Tx for any help.
HB
Very well drained soil based compost with around 1/3 added sharp sand. Put some slow release fertiliser such as growmore, and let dry out between waterings.
They need full sun and cannot tolerate frost for any length of time so it would be better to find a frost free place for them in the winter, during which time they should be left dry and unwatered to prevent rotting.
They are pretty easy to grow, just don't overwater!!! that's the main thing!
Thanks, pal. We don't have frost -- this is So Calif coastal -- a Mediterranean climate. Trust me, anything I don't have to water a lot is welcome; water is very expensive in this (basically desert) area. Mywater bill shoots up dramatically come June.
Temps do not go below 40-ish at night at the "coldest" portion of the "winter". So I assume I can just leave them in the ground, awaiting the Spring?
Re: "Sharp sand", I never heard the term before. Here's what I found:
Sharp sand, also known as builders' sand, refers to sand that has a gritty texture. This type of sand is often mixed with concrete for a number of different construction applications. Sharp sand can also be added to soil in order to create potting soil or to loosen clay soil. In most instances, this type of sand is made from ground quartz rocks.
On occasion, clay and iron may be mixed with quartz rocks in order to create a sharper type of sand. Landscapers and construction workers may use these shards as a base for laying pavement, mixing mortar, dressing lawns, and smoothing floors. Sharp sand also fills most hourglasses, since it is coarse enough to flow through the glass, but fine enough to fit through the connecting portion of an hourglass.
While sharp sand is not ideal for any kind of play area, it is perfect for most garden spaces. Sharp sand allows garden soil to drain with ease, which is not the case with fine sand. Since sand that has jagged edges will not prevent water from passing through it, this kind of sand is often the sand of choice amongst professional gardeners".
Wonder if I really need this? My soil is "locker" -- a German word for loose and friable -- after decades of conditioning the original alkaline clay with amendments.
My usual transplant mix is: Regular dirt, compost*, worm castings, ammonium sulfate, and that white stuff-- name escapes me-- that makes space in the soil.
HB
Higgs Boson wrote: ...
perlite? fluffed up silicon.
i wish i could trust it to be clean enough. lately i'm only taking organics from people i know.
songbird
Yup -blanked out on that one!
I do take your point. But so far, no untoward consequences from City compost. This is a fairly "green" city, so I'd like to hope they wouldn't include **** in their composing process. If you live in a city that might be r esponsive to the idea, maybe suggest that they do the same. Could be they haven't thought of it.
Ours also offers, periodically, heavy-duty shredding, for massive amounts of documents --much more than even a powerful home/office shredder could handle. (Note to self: Great to keep this stuff out of landfills, but I must call the City and ask what they do with the shredded results...)
HB
HB
Vermiculite ?
She may want to look at Propagating Agaves
Gardening in the rain today, Bill? We had 3/4" of rain Tue./Wed. Today it is 103F.
"Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get" - Mark Twain
That, too. I was never clear on the diff. between them, other than perlite is white and vermiculite is gray. /?
HB
this was stuff purchased so aside from telling the folks that their compost was horrible and i wouldn't ever get more from them because of it, i don't have any other recourse.
my concerns are not only about doggy poo, but also about lawn chemicals etc that people use and then get picked up by the mower or rake and then get put at the curb... i really don't want any more of that stuff in my gardens than what already blows in on the wind.
they may compost it or burn it. eventually they might even be able to process the cellulose and get alcohol from it. i know the process is being investigated. i'd like that a lot better than using corn.
i have a medium duty shredder and use it on paper, cardboard and cardstock -- carefully torn apart so it doesn't jam and i make sure to keep an eye on the combs so they don't get gummed up and break. it is working very well so far.
i take all this as use it in the worm bins and as a mulch on some gardens. the fertilizer factory is at about 700lbs of worms/soil in the bins now and they provide about 20lbs a week of prime garden soil and hundreds of worms for the gardens.
with reusing paper, cardboard and cardstock, and the recycling of plastics, metals and glass there's not a whole lot of actual trash being set out now, and i like that a lot.
songbird
i think vermiculite is a processed mica product (which used to be noted as containing traces of asbestos). i don't know if they've changed the sources/process in recent years to take care of that concern or not so best to look into it if you use a lot of it and are breathing the dust.
also for perlite as silicon dust isn't the best for the lungs either.
songbird
Very helpful, tx. Will check it out.
HB
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