My beautiful Agave Americana collapsed this morning! I was planted 18 years ago, and being the oldest living plant on my property, I am very upset!
This is the center exposed--pretty much hollowed out. It doesn't have any odor or any sort of liquid so far. This damage is caused by the same worm that is found in the bottles of mescal. Sometime the larvae do damage without any outward signs, then suddenly the agave wilts, collapses and dies. It eats on the nerve system of the agave.
The Agave Snout Weevil also eats the roots, and in the process, leaves areas where bacterial infections fester, which then rots the plant. This happens in the summertime when the bug is still a larvae. Text book example--yesterday it looked perfectly healthy! Oh well, I'll try to stay positive. It was planted in the wrong spot anyway! I made the mistake many homeowners make--not taking into account the mature size when deciding where the plant will go. But come to think of it, maybe it was a volunteer pup from my neighbor's plant. At my age trying to remember the origin of this plant after 18 years is a stretch, but again, staying positive, if that's the fact, then it wasn't MY fault for lack of planning!
3 comments:
yikes!
I'm glad we don't have those bugs here!
If you take off the top, will the roots resprout? I got my A. americana when somebody tried to kill off theirs and the roots kept popping up for 3 years afterwards.
Oh, how distressful, Pudgeduck! It is so sad. Maybe you can plant a new one in a perfect spot now!!! Maybe in the backyard where you can see it out there with all your other pretties!!! :)
I wonder if that is what happened to my century plant- it was beautiful and then it just up and died- the roots were just nonexistent- it could be knocked right out of its hole. I lost two huge Ocotillos last summer when it rained so hard- they just fell out of the ground too- I've never understood what could have happened to them.
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