Weird spots on butterfly agave. Any idea on what it is?
I just recently bought this butterfly agave from Lowe’s and since then I’ve noticed these odd looking blemishes on it. If anyone has an idea on what this could be caused by let me know!
5ft to light, indirect
4” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 day ago
15
Best Answer
@Slyvie @rayslay25 this looks like scarring from previous physical damage, and also possibly some leaf rot spots. It's definitely not sunburn, and I'm also not seeing signs of pests.
Agave are desert plants so they're accustomed to a lot of intense direct sun. It would be very difficult for an indoor agave plant to get anything close to sunburn. FYI...when a plant does experience sunburn, it doesn't show up on the underside of leaves. The tips of growth, or the parts of the plant closest to the source of light, are where you'd see the signs.
Another possible cause of spots on the underside of leaves closest to the soil is leaf rot from improper airflow and/or moisture sitting on them. The soil you have it in looks extremely dense. Agave need a very gritty, well draining soil, something like cactus soil with extra perlite or pumice rock mixed in (50% cactus soil, 50% perlite or pumice). When dense soil gets wet, it starts to compact around the roots, cutting off their oxygen supply and causing them to suffocate. You also want to keep the leaves as dry as possible. If they get wet when you water, dry them off with a clean towel.
As a side note, thrips usually prefer plants with delicate foliage that's easy to pierce with their mouths. Most succulents and cacti have thicker skin, a feature of adapting to the harsh desert conditions, which makes it harder for many pests, like thrips, to pierce. Pests that are more common on succulents and cacti are scale and aphids (aphids more so on succulents with thinner leaves).
Agave are desert plants so they're accustomed to a lot of intense direct sun. It would be very difficult for an indoor agave plant to get anything close to sunburn. FYI...when a plant does experience sunburn, it doesn't show up on the underside of leaves. The tips of growth, or the parts of the plant closest to the source of light, are where you'd see the signs.
Another possible cause of spots on the underside of leaves closest to the soil is leaf rot from improper airflow and/or moisture sitting on them. The soil you have it in looks extremely dense. Agave need a very gritty, well draining soil, something like cactus soil with extra perlite or pumice rock mixed in (50% cactus soil, 50% perlite or pumice). When dense soil gets wet, it starts to compact around the roots, cutting off their oxygen supply and causing them to suffocate. You also want to keep the leaves as dry as possible. If they get wet when you water, dry them off with a clean towel.
As a side note, thrips usually prefer plants with delicate foliage that's easy to pierce with their mouths. Most succulents and cacti have thicker skin, a feature of adapting to the harsh desert conditions, which makes it harder for many pests, like thrips, to pierce. Pests that are more common on succulents and cacti are scale and aphids (aphids more so on succulents with thinner leaves).
@rayslay25 I’ve checked thoroughly for pests but I can’t find anything. Do you think it could be anything else, possibly fungal??
@rayslay25 upon further research the white spots are from sunburn and the tan spots are from agave mites! I’m gonna treat accordingly and update along the process!
@Slyvie huh. I’m honestly not sure. My echeveria has the same thing right now but is also struggling with thrips. Have you checked to see what the roots look like since you’ve bought her?
@rayslay25 I really didn’t see any bugs to the naked eye, pulled out a flashlight toothpick and all lol! But whatever this is has spread to my other succulents which just sucks :/ but tomorrow I’m gonna get some neem oil and start treating!
@rayslay25 if you can show me a photo of your Echeveria, I can tell you for sure whether it's thrips or something else affecting it. I'd be shocked if it were actually thrips.
@stephongreg here’s some photos. I had just assumed it was caused by thrips/fungus gnats as it is suffering from both right now. She was re potted last month, but showed a lot of signs of new growth and took to the soil well, so I figured that wasn’t the issue. Honestly no clue though, what do you think?
@rayslay25 thanks for the pics! So fungus gnats, while annoying, don't harm your plants. Although thrips aren't as common on echeveria, if this was thrips I'd expect to see damage concentrated at the very center of the rosette where new growth emerges. A few other signs of them are silvery streaks, black specks (their poop), and the larval stage of thrips, which look like tiny cream-colored dots moving around. I don't see any of those looking at your photos, but inspecting it in person gives you a much better vantage point. Are the white areas raised or recessed? If it is pest related AND the white areas are raised, it could be scale. But if the areas are recessed, it's likely nothing more than scars from physical damage.
@stephongreg scales are recessed. I’ve found a bunch of the small white mites in the new growth about a week ago, haven’t seen them since I’ve started the treatment. Very glad to hear the damage might not be related though 🙏