How to care for Agave bella? With pictures for appreciation
Agave toumeyana var. bella, of the family Agavaceae and genus Agave, is native to Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Bella, also known as Ji Luan Xue and Shu Bing, is a small to medium-sized agave. The plant is perennial and succulent, growing in a rosette shape, with a rosette diameter of 15-25 cm and an inconspicuous main stem. The leaf tips are hard, narrowly lanceolate, 10-15 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, with grayish-brown spines at the leaf tips, dark green leaves, irregular white longitudinal lines on the leaf surface, and horny leaf margins with white drooping filaments and occasionally sparse teeth. The spike inflorescence is 1-1.5 m tall, with yellow or yellow-green flowers. This species has a compact plant form, and the naturally curling white filaments along the leaf margins are very beautiful. It grows relatively slowly and is a rare species within the genus Agave.
Bella needs sufficient sunlight for the leaf color to be vivid and the plant shape to be more compact and attractive. Bella is a small to medium-sized, slow-growing variety. Depending on its growth state, repot it about once every 3-5 years, and the pot diameter can be 1-2 cun larger than the plant diameter, which promotes plant growth. The medium must be dry before watering. Apply a light fertilizer once per quarter, or use a slow-release fertilizer. Propagation uses offsets or the top-cutting method and can be done year-round. The editor is used to propagating with offsets, but Bella does not easily produce offsets.
Although the editor grows it in a third-floor sunroom, once the temperature is above 35°C, it is moved to bright indirect light and gradually given less water. During the high-temperature period of the whole summer, give little or no water. By mid-September, when the temperature drops, start restoring watering. Bella, once adapted to the sunroom, can still grow normally in summer, and its dormancy is not very obvious. In winter, if the temperature can stay above 0°C, water can be given; below 0°C, watering must be stopped, otherwise it is also prone to frost damage.
Although winter is cold, it does not mean giving no water at all for the entire winter. At appropriate times, give a little water slightly at the base of the plant. Do not spray or give a lot of water; if moisture remains in the leaf center for too long, it easily causes rot. The temperature difference between north and south is relatively large, so flower enthusiasts still need to grow it according to their own environment. When the temperature rises in spring, gradually resume normal watering. Bella is actually a very easy-to-grow agave variety. Among the four seasons, only in summer should you pay attention to appropriate shading; in the other seasons it can take full sun. For the soil, the editor uses peat mixed with granular cinder, river sand, etc., and also adds a small amount of garden soil. The soil surface is covered with granular river sand, and the mix is mainly breathable.