West and East Window Gardens

[Lady Meera]

I have really enjoyed seeing everyone's widow set-ups and I am jealous of most! Here are mine:

The kitchen is west-facing, and that's the room with all the plants along the wall. This room is full of windows which makes for great sunset views but burning sun summers so I can't put much directly in front of the window. I saw someone on here had frosted decals on their windows and I will definitely be doing that this summer. Thanks for the great idea! The Phals only live here when in bloom so I can look at them all the time.

The others are my east facing-windows which are much smaller but I make do. I love the clear plexiglass shelves many of you use and I may invest in them in the future.

[estación seca]

That's a beautiful setup! How do you reach past that Agave plant without getting ripped to shreds?

[Lady Meera]

Originally Posted by estación seca

That's a beautiful setup! How do you reach past that Agave plant without getting ripped to shreds?

Thanks! It's difficult navigating the agave actually. I usually get poked. The person who gave it to me suggested snipping the barbs with a nail clipper but I'm too lazy to do that..there are a lot of barbs on that thing. I tried wheeling it outside last summer but the sun was too strong in that location and it really struggled. There isn't any other outside location I can physically get it too because it's so heavy, so in front of the orchids it stays.

[estación seca]

Wow. Agaves are high-light plants, and yours looks so good I figured it spent summers outdoors. I've almost never seen a good looking Agave somebody had to grow indoors all year.

[Lady Meera]

Well, a quick story on it. It was given to me last spring. Before then it was grown outdoors in summer but the previous owner could no longer carry it up to their second story apartment. However, it needed to be repotted very badly. It was in a pot with a narrow neck and wide base and it was full of babies that we couldn't reach to remove so I repotted it and put it outside and it almost died. The leaves got leathery and yellow and it kept opening new leaves way too early. I think the new pot had bad drainage and the plant was in shock from too many changes at once. We got a new pot, put foam on the bottom, mixed a lot of sand into the soil and brought it inside where it has been recovering nicely. It still has not produced a baby since its been repotted. I think I'm going to leave it inside this summer and see how it does. The only outdoors place I can put it is outside the window it is in front of and that area gets full and direct sun for probably 5-7 hours. I don't think it is used to those conditions.

[estación seca]

Where do you live? That is Agave americana, and it can take full sun almost everywhere in the US if acclimated gradually after a long winter indoors.

[Lady Meera]

I live in Pennsylvania. I can put it outside and monitor it. I need to wait until it's consistently warm (over 55 F) right?

[estación seca]

That plant won't take your winters, but it's undamaged with overnight frosts into the teens F / -8C if the next day is well above freezing and the soil is fairly dry.

Plan on moving it into half-day sun gradually, over the course of 2-3 weeks. Cover it with shade cloth and gradually move it to more and more sun. If it starts yellowing, give it more shade. Yellowing and burning is not a reason to water more; water, then let go completely dry. A healthy plant like that won't be bothered by your heavy summer rain if it's well-established. I doubt you will have to water it at all if it's exposed to summer rain.

The meristem above each leaf can make one new pup. After you remove them it takes a while before it starts producing more pups.

[Lady Meera]

Thank you! I will definitely take your advice on this! Honestly I wasn't sure what to do with it so I really appreciate the help

[AndreaK]

My Agave throws pups constantly. Speaking of pups, our dog sliced open his side on our Agave. It required stitches three layers deep, skin and muscles involved. Beautiful set up and plants. Just don't trip and land on the Agave. Not the cozy, soft landing you would want! I have a super prickly cactus with long spines. I accidentally bumped it while watering plants. Instinctively, I tried to catch it. Unfortunately, I very painfully succeeded!