Wednesday, February 9, 2011

I think I might have a problem.

No, I am not talking about the fact that I buy more plants than I should (there is simply no cure for that, at least not one I’m interested in finding). No I’m talking about this sort of brownish crusty business that’s showing up on some of my agaves. Recently I spent time with the plants over wintering in the basement...cutting off dead leaves, dumping a few unfortunate ones that obviously headed into dormant season with too much water (= brown mushy business) and just generally checking them all, up close and personal. That’s when I finally realized this might be more than just a passing situation, and that’s not to say this is the first time I’ve seen this. No it’s been going on for awhile; I’ve just been really good at ignoring it. Plus when they go outside for the sunny summer months they seem to snap out of it as soon as they start to grow again. Agave desmettiana variegata seems to be especially susceptible. These pictures (above and below) are it on my midsized plant. On the outer edges of the leaves of the largest plant. This is it on Agave Cornelius… An unidentified blue Agave from my brother in Phoenix… An (unknown) Agave pup… And even this little Agave parryi cream spike seems to have got it. So…does anyone know what’s going on? Please tell me it's not deadly!?

12 comments:

  1. Uh oh...too much water was my guess...even spraying them is not good...crap you know more about them than I do...It reminds me of a rust fungus....hope you find out what it is and a solution....

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  2. I don't know, but it looks worrisome. See if Germi knows.

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  3. I admit it doesn't look good, especially if the crust has been increasing. I had some of the same marks that worsened just after I brought my agaves into the basement for winter. I assumed it was because they had stayed outdoors too long got rained on too many times and just didn't like it. I thought I might eventually lose the individual leaves that were affected. What has happened, though, is that the marks have largely disappeared. Several of the agaves still have one marked leaf. And although I have one agave (a. gentryii 'Jaws') that keeps losing one leaf for every leaf it grows, I haven't had any edge crusting. I have only watered them twice, and very sparingly, since October.

    Could you rotate them into the upstairs rooms for some real daylight or sun? Good luck with a solution!

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  4. My first thought was "rust" too...although I've never heard of Agaves getting rust. Then again, in cool, damp conditions, you never know what kind of fungal diseases will flourish. My first inclination would be to set up a fan to keep the air moving (then again, that might spread spores if indeed it is a fugus). Alas, my knowledge of Agaves is far too limited to be of much help :-(

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  5. Oh no! Sounds like they're too wet... that's what you get for living in the pacific northwest. Have you looked into fungicides?

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  6. Egads, and here I thought bringing your agaves under cover in winter was their beauty sleep. Maybe it'll go away in spring? I'm going to look around to see what that might be. I'm getting the usual snail damage on mine outdoors.

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  7. I've been thinking of your agaves all night and like Scott thought maybe a fan to keep the leaves dry. I wonder if rubbing alcohol applied with a Qtip to the affected sites would help. I know you're probably out of space, but is it possible to separate the affected agaves from the others and give everything more breathing room? Maybe the wizards at Cistus will have an answer.

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  8. Hey Loree, why don't you send a pic to the Cactus dudes in Bezerkley ? Maybe they will be able to help with a diagnosis.

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  9. Darla, "crap you know more about them than I do"...you made me laugh! Thanks!

    Pam, Germi needs a hot-line number!

    MulchMaid, sun? What's that? Kidding...just looking out at a very foggy morning. I like this idea, when we do see the sun I think I'll bring them up for a little vaca by the back door.

    soctt, the look alone made me thing of rust, although to be honest...I'm pretty clueless when it comes to rust, not sure if I've ever actually seen it on any of my plants. I did a little online research and found that agaves aren't typically affected by it. Not that "typical" matters.

    Rainforest, it's interesting that several people have mentioned that yet these are actually very dry. Mostly being smaller pots they were easy to move when the rains started and I haven't watered them a drop since they were brought in back in October. I will look into a fungicide though, can't hurt.

    Denise, damn snails! I had a slug completely consume a small pup planted in the ground last year. Thank you for your continued thoughts! And I like the qtip rubbing alcohol idea.

    ks, good idea...I think I'll do just that!

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  10. Ask the people at Cistus or call the Multnomah County Master Gardener Extension office. They may not know right off hand but they will find out and let you know. It's what they do.

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  11. Take a look at anthracnose of agave. (http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1399.pdf) page 7. Not a great photo, but the circles described look similar to the damage on your 6th and 7th photos. Though my French isn't as good as it could be, this photo shows damage from the fungus on the leaf edges which is similar to some of your photos. (http://www.kuentz.com/culture_maladies.php) Plus, the conditions for the disease sound like an Oregon winter.
    That's my two cents.

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  12. Grace, thank you...both are great resources.

    Carolyn, interesting, I found that same PDF, and saved it too, it's a good one. Using the Google translate feature I was about to get most of what the French site was trying to say, also a great find. Thank you for your two cents...I appreciate your taking the time to look, at it was nice to meet you!

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