Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Random plant event: Furcraea foetida 'Medio-Picta' offsetting

As ridiculous as it might be for me to be growing a full-sun, non-cold-hardy succulent that can potentially reach 8-10 feet (~3 m) in diameter, and to be doing this in Iowa, and indoors, I do really love my Furcraea foetida. I worry about it sometimes, too, like for example this winter it lost several leaves, and I don't know whether that was something that was going to happen regardless, or if I was watering it too much, or not enough, or whatever. But apparently I haven't been too terrible, because it looks like it's reproducing!


I'm really surprised by this; it hadn't really occurred to me that it was capable of offsetting (none of my Agaves have offset, or even looked like they were thinking about it), much less that it might go ahead and do so. No idea how long it might take for this to become a viable plant on its own. Pretty stoked about it anyway, though.


4 comments:

Liza said...

Oooh, I love baby plants! They are so cute!

Unknown said...

Glad to know I'm not the only one growing oddballs that make no sense in my zone. Sometimes, if asked, I tell people I'm starting them for when I move to California someday. Very cool little offset you have there!

CelticRose said...

Meh, grow what you like, Mr. S. There's no law that says you have to stick to plants suitable for your zone. What are greenhouses for, after all?

Heck, I know folks who grow cacti and succulents in England -- some of them outdoors!

Tracy said...

I seem to amassed quite an agave collection, also in Iowa. Many of the varieties seem to offset quite often. To get them out of the pot successfully I usually repot the big plant since the roots are very intertwined. When mine get too big I usually just keep a baby one and let the rest go since many can get quite large.