Agave americana
Century Plant
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Century Plant (Agave americana) - Description
A. americana bear blue-green leaves that grow to 6 feet long. It's bulk is 10 feet wide and it's spines often make it formidable to remove.
Century Plant (Agave americana) - Blooming
Most Agaves require a long period of time before they will bloom. Fortunately, these plants are generally grown for their foliar aesthetics.
Century Plant (Agave americana) - Growth
Agave should be planted in an area where it will receive full sun or partial shade. For the quickest rates of growth, give your Agaves high light and high heat.
Century Plant (Agave americana) - Planting
Slow from seed, but you will most likely find these plants as small plantlets in pots. Plant the plantlets at around 6' apart as they can grow rather wide. Provide well-aerated soils.
Century Plant (Agave americana) - Pest
Very few pests will bother these plants.
Century Plant (Agave americana) - Interesting facts
The Agave genus is where you will find the species A. tequilana. The species name is derived from the agricultural use of the plant, which is especially abundant in the state of Jalisco in Mexico. A. tequilana is the plant that is used to make tequila. Agaves are generally long lived, but will die after they go to seed. Some species are so long lived they are commonly known as Century Plants (although it may not take 100 years for them to flower). The resulting flower spike resembles an extremely large asparagus, which makes sense since the Agavaceae plant family is relatively closely related to Asparagaceae. These plants are sometimes called American Aloes. This name is misleading however. Although they are native to the Americas (specifically the Southern United States and Central America), they are not related to Aloes. Aloes are old world plants native to Africa, Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsula.
Century Plant (Agave americana) - Soil and irrigation
Most Agaves are known to be rather drought tolerant. Although they can deal with rather dry conditions, they thrive with little to moderate water and rich soils that drain quickly and provide good aeration to the roots. These plants are tremendously tolerant of the poorest and shallowest of soils.
