Agaveville

My parryi x flexispina doesn’t share much of a resemblance: I dug up some old pictures of what I’m fairly sure is Agave ‘Kichiokan’ or similar growing at Succulent Gardens in Castroville, CA (with a large bonus ‘Cream Spike’): The leaves of these cultivars have a notably narrow waist, even at a young age.

^ Same marginals, terminals as OP.

@ChrisG Thanks for the info, yes kind of a shame its probably not going to have those great marginal teeth but it’ll be interesting to see how they end up comparing.

Speaking of parryi this one I planted earlier this year also has atypical marginals. Based on this I’ve been thinking it could be parryi x Ditepalae hybrid. Any thoughts?

"I dug up some old pictures of what I’m fairly sure is Agave ‘Kichiokan’ or similar growing at Succulent Gardens in Castroville, CA (with a large bonus ‘Cream Spike’)"

I agree.

So, it begs the question, "What is Agave 'Kichijokan'?" That is to say, to what Agave species are its known or presumed parents?

IIRC Greg Starr has confidently labeled 'Kichijokan' as A. isthmensis...@agavegreg feel free to correct me!

I cannot believe people are still saying these plants look the same. If 'Kichijokan' were to ever reach the diameter of the plant in the OP , second photo (which I doubt is possible), it would have 3 times as many leaves and they would be stacked up into a 2' high pseudo-cylindrical plant - that's what these do when they get old. See the 5th photo here: https://succulentsworld.com.au/products ... -kichiokan

@Blue Agave, are the leaves on your plant rough or smooth?

Is isthmensis hardy at all? I’ve grown a bunch of the various cultivars in pots but I don’t think they’ve ever seen frost.

Gafoto wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:58 am Is isthmensis hardy at all? I’ve grown a bunch of the various cultivars in pots but I don’t think they’ve ever seen frost.

In my experience, not really...and you are much colder than Tucson.

Gafoto wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:58 am Is isthmensis hardy at all? I’ve grown a bunch of the various cultivars in pots but I don’t think they’ve ever seen frost.

Takes some serious damage mid-upper 20s. Kissho Kan about the same.

@ccm2000 It still cope turn out the same as mine. I looked at my offsets and they all had the same spines as yours and leaf shape when small.

@Gafoto neither isthmensis or kissho kan survive at my lows of -9c (16f) even kept dry let alone totally unprotected as @Paul S mentioned.

@Melt in the Sun they are totally smooth front and back in that respect very much like parryi.