Tony Krock demo: coring and cutting an agave
When I was in Santa Barbara recently, Tony Krock of Krock Nursery gave me a demonstration of how he cores and cuts agaves for propagation. Both methods may seem radical at first glance, but they’re highly effective in promoting the formation of pups. For professional growers like Tony, this is the fastest way to propagate rare plants for the collector’s market. In fact, it’s the only way for solitary agaves that normally don’t offset at all. I filmed Tony’s demonstration and posted the video on YouTube: The video is 13+ minutes long; I highly recommend you watch it in its entirety if you’re interested in finding out how Tony does it. If you don’t have 13+ minutes to watch the video right now, here are the main steps: Coring For smaller agaves with a fairly narrow center, coring is a better technique than trying to cut the plant in half. Coring is quick and easy: Step 1: Reach all the way down into the center of the plant and snap off the cone of leaves with your hand. Step 2: Usin