	height	1–2ft
	width	1–2ft
	tolerates	Drought, Heat, Pots, Rooftops, Neglect
	water needs	Lowest
	water info	Agave plants are extremely drought tolerant, and this one needs no supplemental irrigation in coastal California. It will, however, look better and grow faster if given additional water, especially during summer.
	hardy to	25F
	exposure	Part Shade – Full Sun
	indoor outdoor	Outdoor
	fertilizing	All Purpose 1/2 Strength, Low Needs
	origin	Chiapas, Mexico
	california native	No
	sunset zones	13–24

OUTDOOR EXPOSURE GUIDE

Full Sun
Six or more hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Shade
Three to five hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Sun
One to two hours of sun beams directly landing on the plants leaves.

Full Shade
The plant is never fully lit by sun beams, but is in a bright spot or has dappled sunbeams playing over the leaves throughout the day.

Deep Shade
The plant never has dappled light on the leaves, and is in a place that feels dim, even on a nice sunny day.

SUNSET ZONES MAP

Growing Notes

Most agave are monocarpic, meaning that a head will grow larger and larger over time, building up energy, then send off a spectacular flower, after which they decline and die. With pupping varieties, they grow from stolons and rhizomes at the base, constantly replacing the older bloomed-out heads with new ones, which then grow larger and flower, continuing the life cycle.

Take care when pruning or removing agaves, as many have a toxic sap that causes inflammation and rashing. Removing spent agave heads can also be tricky as they are often ringed with other armed agaves. If you like the look of agaves, but are threatened by the terminal spikes, they can be removed. It’s easiest to cut these off when they are coming out of the rosette as you’ll be able to prune the thorns off many layers of leaves at one time.

You can ‘pineapple’ your agave by removing the lowest leaves. This is best started while it is out of the nursery can, but before planting, when you can access leaves from the bottom. This gives the plant a short trunk, textured similar to many palms.

Agaves, even very large ones, are a great choice to grow in a pot. Agaves that would normally be ten feet in the ground tend to settle into even small pots and stay in harmonious balance. Every few years, if they start to stall, you can remove them and trim back a third of the roots and remove any pups. Sometimes they get very rootbound, and it can be beneficial to bottom water, setting them in a saucer of water for a day.

Agave pygmaea ‘Dragon Toes’

Growing Notes

Special Interest