Under suitable site conditions, all agave species actually need very little care. If the leaves of the agave turn yellow in certain places or as a whole, there can be various reasons.
Yellow leaves are usually not a sign of a lack of water
Agaves like it dry and bright
As succulents, agaves originally come from regions similar to various species of cacti, so they usually do well in drought conditions due to the water stored in their leaves. It would therefore be a mistake if the plants were watered (or fertilized) more when the leaves were yellow. In general, a distinction can be made between yellow leaf tips and slightly wilting leaves at the base of the plant in agaves. It is quite normal for the oldest leaves to turn yellow before they dry up completely and can be cut off.
Be careful when repotting and propagating
A trap lurks for all hobby gardeners when caring for agaves when they are repotted or propagated. In contrast to many other plants, the agaves must not be watered immediately after:
- they were repotted
- roots were injured
- the offshoots called Kindel were cut off
All interfaces and open wounds should only be allowed to dry off for about two to three weeks before they are watered again.
tips
Often it is simply due to waterlogging in the substrate when agaves get yellow leaves and start to rot. They should then be transplanted into potting soil mixed with lava stones, pumice gravel or quartz sand (€15.85) and kept very dry, especially in winter.