seed maturity

[bigdaddyscondition]

This long-lived, non-offsetting Agave victoria reginae compacta has finally spiked. I have been unable to find a replacement for this cultivar, so I plan to grow some from seed. The plant spiked weeks ago, and the pods don't seem to be in a hurry to dry out or split open. I did cut open a pod, and it was packed with rows of seemingly viable seeds.

Should I wait until the seed pods turn brown, perhaps split open, and start falling from the stalk before collecting seeds for planting?

spiking Queen Victoria2.jpg (405.05 KiB) Viewed 1193 times

[Gee.S]

You can safely collect all seed once any of the pods start turning brown.

[bigdaddyscondition]

Thanks Gee.

[Gafoto]

Do the compact variants tend to hold true from seed or is it a one-off sport?

[edds]

Do the compact variants tend to hold true from seed or is it a one-off sport?

I have some seed I purchased in 2020 of vr compact form. So I don't know exactly what the parent looked like and it's too early to say for sure about how large they will grow but what I can say is that there is a fair degree of variability.

Here is a photo from above,

PXL_20220831_183341409.jpg (255.8 KiB) Viewed 1131 times

And some from the side with the full description,

PXL_20220831_183356641.jpg (277.25 KiB) Viewed 1131 times

[AussieAgave]

Hi, I have a flower at a very similar stage to the first photo in this thread. However our gardeners cut it off today. Is it a lost cause or if I leave them on the cut down stem to dry out, will I be able to harvest seeds? Thanks!

[nsp88]

Hi, I have a flower at a very similar stage to the first photo in this thread. However our gardeners cut it off today. Is it a lost cause or if I leave them on the cut down stem to dry out, will I be able to harvest seeds? Thanks!

I collected seeds from an agave last year when all the pods were still green. They had a low germination rate, but I still had a few dozen successful ones. I think the low germination rate might have also been in part (or whole) because there is a good chance they were self-fertilized. Who knows. But I did have a little bit of success with the seeds when they were collected from entirely green pods.

[Gafoto]

Hi, I have a flower at a very similar stage to the first photo in this thread. However our gardeners cut it off today. Is it a lost cause or if I leave them on the cut down stem to dry out, will I be able to harvest seeds? Thanks!

Break open a seed pod. If seeds are black inside, they are mature and ready to sow. White seed pods are blanks and will not germinate.

Usually you can save yourself a bit of effort by stripping the pods off the stalk and letting them air dry until they start to crack open (weeks to months). A small flathead screwdriver can help persuade any pods that don’t fully open with drying.

[AussieAgave]

Thank you so much!