Preventing Insects on your Agave
One of the common questions we get from customers is how to treat agave that have grubs and mature agave weevils taking over. The easiest way to handle it is with prevention, which means to keep them healthy all year.
This is easily done with agave by not watering them and not applying any type of potent fertilizer to them. Using a product like our Desert Juice helps keep them healthy without putting too much nitrogen on them. We recommend placing water lines away from new agave species. Established plants should not be getting any additional water other than what they are receiving by nature.
Quick Design Tip - Agave that is planted in low spots of a landscape should not be getting any type of irrigation at all.
Signs of Insects on Your Plants
If you see any of these signs, you need to try to treat your plant as early as you can with a systemic insecticide. Multiple brands get the job done, but they all have the same active ingredient, imidacloprid. Make sure that this ingredient is listed on any product you choose to purchase.Indications that you may have an issue with insects include new plant growth coming out with deformities or rotten-like appearance. Sometimes the center growth can even fall over or turn to a mushy texture.
Treating Your Insect Issues
Systemic insecticide, like Hi-Yield Insecticide, comes in a bagged granular form, as well as a shaker-type bottle. If you have a large yard (up to 5000 square feet), you can purchase larger bags to be sure to cover all problem areas adequately.
Additionally, you can use a liquid form, such as the Fertilome Insecticide, that just needs to be mixed in with water and poured around the plant so that you drench the area around the plant. Treat the problem areas as soon as you spot them.
More often than not, you can get rid of the insects before they have matured. If you found the issue too late and the insects have evolved, you are going to have to replace the infected agave.
No matter how early or late you identified the issue, you will have to treat the soil around the troubled agave and any other plants in the area to make sure that you reduce the problem and decrease the change of other nearby plants being affected.
Two insecticide products that we recommend are Fertilome Insecticide and Hi-Yield insecticide. Our nurseries carry both brands, as well as our custom-blended Desert Juice. We recommend using either of these products before you replace the recently removed plant.
Our Nursery Pros Can Assist
If you are worried about your agave, plants, or trees are being infected by insects, come in and see a nursery professional. This will help our pros give you customized advice on how to handle the treatment, removal, and replacement in those affected areas of your yard.
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