Century Plant 'Creme Brulee' (Agave guiengola)

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palmbob Acton, CA(Zone 8b) Jul 18, 2010

Century Plant 'Creme Brulee'
Agave guiengola

another beautiful Rancho Soledad plant (San Diego county, California)

Post #7979267

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Kell San Leandro, CA(Zone 9b) Oct 25, 2011

I was looking at one of these today in 3 gallon pot and it has pupped excessively. Odd this big one has no pups. Do find they do excessively pup?

And PS this entry says
Height:
12-18 in. (30-45 cm)
18-24 in. (45-60 cm)
But from what I have read they get big.
Height: 3-4 feet
Width: 4-5 feet

What do you think PalmBob? Thanks

This message was edited Oct 25, 2011 7:00 PM

Post #8863764

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palmbob Acton, CA(Zone 8b) Oct 25, 2011

height and width definitely wrong- you are right this gets to be an enormous plant (at least 5' across)... as for pupping, this species in the wild rarely pups (almost never)... yet the ones in cultivation almost always do... why? Because a pupping plant is so much easier to propagate... so when one is discovered, a pup is taken and wala... all the plants in cultivation pup. Too bad actually as this plant really looks way better as a solitary species (which it is supposed to be!). Rancho Soledad nurseries are doing tissue culture on these so they can conceivable crank out a lot of non-pupping individuals. This pupping in cultivation phenomenon is very common in many succulents, and really gives one the wrong impression about these plants (as well as having one collect messy, suckering plants when one really just wanted one)

Post #8863812

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Kell San Leandro, CA(Zone 9b) Oct 25, 2011

I agree, I so prefer non suckering agaves and aloes. Pupping not only gives you so much work trying to control it, but makes it so hard to enjoy their form. And this particular one has an unusual shape. Very interesting about pups used for propagating make pupping adults.

So if a seed grown agave was used for tissue culture instead of a pup, the resulting agaves would be nonpupping? I wonder if they take that into consideration when picking one to tissue culture. You would hope so for they do not need to have a fast source of new plants thru pupping if they are already using tissue culture.

As always, thanks for the extra info!

Post #8863986

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palmbob Acton, CA(Zone 8b) Oct 26, 2011

As long as the seed comes from non-pupping individuals. Of course, since SOME do pup in the wild, I suppose the tendency to pup could come up again, even in a tissue-cultured plant. Just a lot less likely.

Post #8864280

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CactusJordi El Cajon, CA Oct 26, 2011

There is a nice not pupping and not variegated plant in the Agave area near the Old World Garden in WAP.
Unfortunately deer are munching on it occasionally.

Jordi