I have quite a number of agave plants and some are keeling over due to the dreaded weevil I have sprayed them all with imidacloprid and soaked the soil at the base which I hope will stop the infections. I cannot establish how the weevils move about, do they fly or just walk from one plant to another as I have infected plants over quite a wide area? So do I have to water a large area of soil around the plant to catch them on the move? If they fly I have no chance.
Being a beetle... They will move from plant to plant by any means necessary! This means that they will crawl or fly from plant to plant, and constant mitigation will be necessary. Triazanon will be the appropriate chemical control, however.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/agave/agave-snout-weevil-control.htm
This agave is only 3 months old but is shooting up a flowering stalk?
It usually takes years for an agave to bloom. It may just be a leaf rosette. Do you know the variety name and can get more information? Is it possible that it is an agave? They often bloom yearly.
The bad news is that in many agave plants (but not all), a bloom signals the end of the parent agave's life. Are there any pups yet that you can separate? If not, don't be alarmed. It can take months or even a year for the parent to succumb, by which time there should be pups.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/agave/growing-agave.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/aloe-vera/different-aloe-varieties.htm
We put it in or garden about 10 years ago. We noticed 6-7 weeks ago that something was happening and it has just grown and grown. Is it of any interest do you think to other keen gardeners?
Every source I consulted mentioned its flowering, so I don't think it is unusual except for the fact that many people may not still have their agave plant after 7 to 20 years, the time it takes to flower. So, it is newsworthy when one does bloom.
Be sure to collect any offshoots produced during flowering as the main plant dies after flowering.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/agave/common-agave-plant-varieties.htm
https://www.washington.edu/news/2014/06/04/its-not-giant-asparagus-nine-foot-agave-showing-off-at-botany-greenhouse/
https://hgic.clemson.edu/agave-approaching-full-bloom-in-june-2018/
I ask this question with reference to the blue agave. Many websites say that the agaves which sprout the flowering stalk (quiote) on approaching maturity are female while those that don't are male that have a dense pack of penquitas where the quiote would have sprouted. H known as the cogollo. How correct is this? Is there anyway to know which are make or female and what decides their 'gender' Others say that ALL agaves will sprout quiotes at some point... I understand they are monoecious and can reproduce sexually or asexually with pups or bulbils Could you help me to understand this phenomena?
From my understanding, they are all "males" and "females" but exhibit inflorescence at different times. "Males will be before maturity, and "females" will be at maturity. Since this is the case, some will bear seed (sexually), while most will propagate via offshoot (asexually).
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/agave/agave-propagation.htm
I would like to understand whether, on maturity, all individual agave plants in a field sprout a quiote (the flowering stalk) sooner or later or is this a selective process with only 'female' agaves doing so and not the 'male' ones. Is there anything that determines this behaviour?
Both male and female agave plants produce the flowering spears, but it may take 5, 10, or more years before they do. The length of time may be affected by the terrain and/or the climate.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/agave/growing-agave.htm