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A friend offer me three of her agaves. All I have to do is drive a couple of hours, dig them up and return home. As you can see they are quite mature. What are the dos and don'ts of doing this and maximizing the chances of a successful transplant?

They are pretty tough in my experience. Do the best you can to protect the roots while digging, let em heal or don’t. Hold back on watering for a couple weeks.

I agree with samhain, they can tolerate quite the beating in my experience. Digging a larger area around the plant can prevent too much root damage, but you may find the roots have spread far into the ground already.

thank you both...

Caudexguy99 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 5:56 am I agree with samhain, they can tolerate quite the beating in my experience. Digging a larger area around the plant can prevent too much root damage, but you may find the roots have spread far into the ground already.

This has also been my experience, although I've never dug up one as large as those. The plant nearest to the camera in the first photo is going to be a pain to get out with that adjacent concrete driveway and sidewalk. The one behind it too, probably. Might want to bring a pick axe. Good luck!!

Thank you...I think I will need the "good luck"

and bring enough vehicle to get them home....they ....look...huge!

She's gonna need some fill dirt after the excavation.

Post some post transplant pics, please.

Will do...I'll have my truck but my 76 year old body may only be able to do 1...maybe 2 at a time

Yeah...take your time or have some young buck dig for you for $20....while you supervise . Smart money .

And my comments were pretty much tongue in cheek...They are big plants though and I would be there in a New York minute to transplant those if offered to me.

Please share how it goes.

I agree. I have already started to look for some "cheap labor". I will let you all know how it all turns out. Thank you.