Agave Species, Utah Agave, Century Plant, Maguey

On Mar 23, 2016, Lodewijkp from Zwolle,
Netherlands (Zone 7a) wrote:

The full name should be Agave Utahensis ssp Utahensis instead of just Utahensis.

Another cold hardy arid agave , very cold hardy. Have been grown in Oregon and drier areas of eastern washington. Does need dry conditions, reports from great britain inform that this species get damaged by wet winter where there is alot of rain and air humidity. They do not die of excessive winter wet they usually become damaged to the point where they start to rot when the winter is over.

Desert species like utahensis , filifera and havardiana are agaves that have low resistance against wet winters with alot of rain and hail. In the native area they get huge swings in temperature where at night it can freeze and during daytime it will be pretty hot. You can bring them indoors wh... read moreen there is alot of rain and humidity in winter.

Surely one of the easiest agaves to sow.
1. Just soak seeds 24 hours in water ( not warm water )
2. Put them in a propagator and spray them a few times ( misting )
3. Do no make them wet , just make sure there is high air humidity
4. Put the lid or hood on the propagator box / container
5. Do no air or open it, make sure the air stay humid.
6. Put it in a cool enviroment with indirect or filtered sunlight at 60F for 24 hours.
7. After 6 put them in a location where the temperature will be 70 to 80 F but never exceed that temperature , 77 F is optimal.

If you do not see any sign of germination whatsover just spray the soil and seeds with water. When they first few start to germinate after a few days open the box and keep maximal ventilation otherwise they will get killed by fungi and rot.

Of the 30 seeds sown i had at least 50 % germination in 4 days.

You can also use the baggie method that is used with palmseeds if you follow the above directions ( preferably without added soil, use cottonwool etc ) . You can also put the leftover seeds from the propagator in the bag to give them extra humidity and let the ones in the propagator box grow.