Oregon: Agave Americana variegated

I have a beautiful agave americana variegated in a pot and am worried about the brown tips beginning on the ends of all of them. I was just given it two weeks ago and no brown tips then! There is also developing a blotch in the middle of one of the leaves. Any ideas? I know not to water it much. Any ideas for me please as I love this plant? I do have a greenhouse for the winter but not sure how much water it actually needs.
Thank you so much
Portland, Oregon

 

Where do you have it? Is it in full sun? What kind of soil is in the pot?

 

Sorry for the late reply but I have been out of town for 2 weeks.
I have the agave in a pot that it came with (ceramic) so I don't know what the soil is. I have had it in the sun but someone did tell me that they can get sunburnt which does not make sense to me considering where they come from.
Thank you for any input you give me as I love this plant.

 

Hi,

Agaves can get sunburn, but symptoms are typically characterized by bleaching then tissue death of the burned area. And it's probably safe to say that there is minimal risk of sunburn in Portland :-) Also, over-watering symptoms are typically associated with leaf yellowing and leaves becoming floppy or mushy at the base and eventual rotting of the root system.

Tip dieback and a "blotch" in the middle of a leaf sounds a little like salt burn, but it is difficult to say with certainty. The blotch could be from an injury, if it doesn't spread, I wouldn't be concerned. If the leaves are also beginning to crease or wrinkle, you should water a little more.

You might also want to try popping the plant out of it's pot and looking at the roots. If there are healthy, white, bendable roots around the sides, then the problem is most likely not a root issue. If there are no roots, or brown, crispy roots then you may have a root system issue. In which case it may be difficult to determine the culprit.

Hope this helps

 

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. I will take your advice.

 

Also a good idea to make sure you aren't watering too much; it would be best to put it under an overhang to ensure it doesn't get too wet. Another thing is not to water overhead- agaves will probably get fungus if the foliage stays wet. I had that problem last fall, but I moved it under the eves and it did fine all winter.

 

Again thank you. I have a greenhouse that I keep at 40 deg so hopefully it will be happy in there in the winter.