Green Mountain Gardener

Agave x 'Kissho Kan'

I fell in love with Agave last year while visiting the greenhouses at the Montreal Botanical Garden.  After returning home, I decided I would try growing a couple of them in pots, and ordered two species by mail order.  They did quite well in the beginning, until I noticed this little white “puff ball” at the base of one plant.  I removed it and promptly squashed it – revealing this “juice” inside the puff ball.  At the time, I didn’t figure the juice to be insect-related, until I noticed a few more of these little puff balls.  I removed some by hand, and the plant was then treated with Neem.  More puff balls appeared, which resulted in more applications of Neem.  Finally, I thought I had won the battle.  Soon after, however, I noticed several dried brown spots on the leaves.  I thought that I had done something horribly wrong to the plants. Maybe I watered too much, or not enough.  Maybe they weren’t getting proper drainage.  I sent an email to the nursery that I purchased the plants from, hoping that they would be able to tell me what was ailing my plants.  And, I also inquired at a local nursery.  This was all before I noticed the teeny tiny crawlers on the leaves.  I believe what is buggin’ me is scale insect, sucking the juice right out of the leaves.  I read on a gardening forum that I could try three applications of Neem, 7-10 days apart.  So, that is what I am doing now.  I applied the second application yesterday, and today I noticed two insects, which I removed by hand.  I will try the last application next week, and see if I have any luck. Otherwise, the plants will be bagged and tagged.  Such a shame.  Has anyone had any luck ridding themselves of scale?

On a happier note, I recently purchased two more Agave, ‘Kissho Kan’, pictured above, with lovely blue-green leaves, creamy margins, and teeth that emerge yellow, and then change from orange to red.  My second plant, Agave victoria-reginae, the queen mother of agave, has the most beautiful, symmetrical form.  It resembles a giant artichoke when it reaches maturity.  And, my Agave wish-list continues to grow.  These two new additions are in a completely different area of the house, to avoid any run-ins with the dreaded scale.  Ick!

Update:  Thank you to Grace, of Gardening With Grace for correcting my insect i.d.  The insects that were having their way with my Agave are mealy bugs.  I did not have any luck getting rid of them with Neem, and ended up tossing the plants.  They were in pretty sad shape, and I was growing concerned that the insects would start invading my healthy plants.  Grace recommends a product called Safer’s to help get rid of mealy bugs.  And, for serious infestations, she sprays her plants and then ties a plastic bag around them for 24 hours.  Thank you for the information, Grace!