I was repotting/weeding a fair few of my wheeleris and longissimums today and noticed what looked like a rhizome coming from several (but I guess could have also been a new root developing).
Dasylirion only reproduce by seed right?
First two pics show an example longissimum second two a wheeleri:
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I've had a potted wheeleri growing for years, and haven't seen an offset yet, so I assumed they don't offset. I just looked it up, and find mentions of offsets possible (?).
Here is one source with interesting information, but I don't know if accurate. https://succulentsnetwork.com/dasylirio ... -pictures/
Yes my excitement was short lived, after repotting a few of these guys now (100+, I haven't counted) I've seen several that have a 'young' root that is intermediate between a mature root and this emerging rhizome looking root.
Wendy Hodgson talks about the roots of D wheeleri being baked and eaten in her book "food plants of the Sonoran desert", they are quite thick succulent roots compared to agave and probably why the emerging root looks so much like a rhizome.
I was actually surprised how big these guys were under the ground because above ground they barely looked like they have grown that much.
Back onto this topic again I have now seen a couple of my wheeleris that definitely have a second, smaller plant growing next to them, not many but probably 3 or 4 out of 100 or so. I'm not going to unpot them until the summer is well and truly over and have an underground look, because it's been a pretty dry and hot one (for here )
I doubt it's an errant extra seed because unlike agave where two or more seeds often stick together dasylirion seeds with their little wings are easy to pick up separately.
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Never seen a wheeleri offset in the wilds, and I've seen millions of them. But I know some plants can behave differently when potted.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
@Papahuel I did have one Dasylirion which had a pup which I tried to devide from its mom before planting out. Unfortunately it didn't have its own roots and succumbed soon after. Now I wish I had left it alone.
jam wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 6:15 am
@Papahuel I did have one Dasylirion which had a pup which I tried to divide from its mom before planting out. Unfortunately it didn't have its own roots and succumbed soon after. Now I wish I had left it alone.
Wow the parent dasylirion of yours looks good, yes probably best to leave the pup alone for a while I'm thinking.
Dasylirion seem even slower than agave by a fair way, they are hardy but don't take having their roots disturbed very well (no high noon re potting in full sun like I can get away with my agave ).
Even the wheeleris I've planted in the ground are still slooooow.
Papahuel wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 12:33 pm
Dasylirion seem even slower than agave by a fair way, they are hardy but don't take having their roots disturbed very well (no high noon re potting in full sun like I can get away with my agave ).
Perhaps I was lucky with this one. The mix it was planted in when I bought it was too rich so I lifted it up, water hosed its root ball and stuck it in lava rock with some sand. It's never complained It's going to be planted outside this spring.
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It's going to be planted outside this spring.