WateringTimesWatering plan, $19
Agave potatorum, WUCOLS IV

How often to water butterfly agave in California

In July in the Central Valley, established butterfly agave needs about 0.2 gallons a week for a plant 2 feet across. Butterfly agave forms a single, open, symmetrical rosette of broad gray leaves edged with chestnut-brown teeth. It reaches 1 to 2 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide, and it rarely makes offsets. It comes from semi-arid highlands in southern Mexico and needs little water in a California garden. Frost below about 25 degrees F limits where it can stay outdoors.

SucculentRated for 6 of 6 zones

How often to water butterfly agave, month by month

Your city
Plant width
2 ft
Your soil

Type your city above and the days between waterings and the gallons appear here, worked out from your city's climate table. Or read the figures by climate zone further down.

Every month, on your water days. The personal plan prints this for butterfly agave and the rest of your yard, on the days your water supplier allows.Get the plan for $19

How this is worked out: the plant’s WUCOLS rating times your city’s climate for the month, over the area the plant covers. Skip a watering after a good soaking rain.

Which soil do you have?

Dig down a few inches, take a handful of moist soil and squeeze it.

  • Sandy: gritty, falls apart when you open your hand, will not form a ball.
  • Loam: forms a soft ball that crumbles when you poke it.
  • Clay: forms a firm, sticky ball and squeezes out into a ribbon between thumb and finger.

Still not sure? Pick loam. Most garden beds sit between sand and clay.

How to measure plant width

A shrub with its width marked from one side to the other and the circle under it shaded blue

Measure across the plant, from the tips of the leaves on one side to the tips on the other.

Water the whole area the plant covers, shown in blue. The gallons here cover that area.

A wider plant means more gallons each watering, not more waterings. While it is young, measure again each spring.

How to tell it needs water

  • Mix or soil still damp a few inches down means butterfly agave does not need water yet
  • For a young plant in its first summer, dry soil deep at the root ball edge signals a slow soak
  • Greasy smudges on the inner leaf faces and a distorted center point to agave mites, which watering will not cure
  • Leaf damage after a night well below 25 degrees F is cold injury, so do not answer it with extra water
  • A tall stalk rising from the center, often in fall, means the whole plant will flower and then decline

How to water it

  • Plant butterfly agave in full sun in gritty or sandy soil that drains fast, mounding heavy ground before planting
  • Water a new planting around its root ball, then let the soil dry deeply before the next soak
  • Once it is established, water only when a long dry spell has dried the soil well below the surface
  • Aim water at the soil beside the rosette and keep it off the broad, cupped leaves
  • Top the soil with gravel instead of bark, and keep fallen leaves and debris out of the open rosette

Through the seasons

Water a new butterfly agave deeply a few times in its first summer, letting the soil dry between soaks. After that it needs little. It keeps its gray leaves all year. A plant can mature and flower when about ten years old, sending up a 10 to 20 foot stalk, usually in fall, and the whole plant then declines. Where winter nights drop below about 25 degrees F, grow it in a pot you can move. Winter rain covers the cool months on the coast and in the Central Valley. WUCOLS rates butterfly agave low water on the south coast. It rates very low water on the north-central coast, in the Central Valley, in South Inland, in the high desert and in the low desert.

In pots

Butterfly agave stays compact and seldom offsets, so it can live in one container for years. Use a gritty mix in a pot with open holes, a little wider than the rosette. In summer, check several inches down every few days and water when the mix has dried throughout. Drain it fully and leave no water in the saucer. Before a frost below about 25 degrees F, move the pot under cover or against a warm wall. In winter, water only enough to keep the roots from drying out completely.

1 Your climate zone six WUCOLS zones, each from its own reference city
0.27gal per sq ft in JulyVery low water use in the Central Valley zone
A year
1.71 gal per sq ft
Reference
Sacramento climate table
Counts
Plant need, before sprinkler losses
0.200.400.590.790.04JAN0.07FEB0.11MAR0.15APR0.21MAY0.25JUN0.27JUL0.24AUG0.18SEP0.12OCT0.06NOV0.03DEC0.200.400.590.790.04JFM0.15AMJ0.27JAS0.12OND
Gallons per square foot per month, Central Valley. Peak 0.27 in Jul, 1.71 a year.

Monthly water need by climate zone

Butterfly Agave: gallons per square foot per month, by WUCOLS climate zone

MonthN. CoastC. ValleyS. CoastS. InlandHi DesertLo Desert
Jan0.040.040.310.080.070.08
Feb0.050.070.320.090.090.09
Mar0.090.110.460.130.150.15
Apr0.120.150.560.160.190.2
May0.150.210.640.20.240.24
Jun0.160.250.690.230.290.28
Jul0.160.270.790.250.30.29
Aug0.150.240.740.230.280.26
Sep0.120.180.60.190.210.21
Oct0.090.120.460.130.150.15
Nov0.050.060.330.090.090.1
Dec0.030.030.260.070.070.07
Year1.21.716.21.842.132.11

How this is worked out: the WUCOLS water rating for each zone times that zone’s climate for the month. A dash means WUCOLS does not rate the plant there. The figures are what the plant uses, before sprinkler losses.

Plants with the same water needs 13

Rated very low water in the Central Valley, like butterfly agave. Plants that drink alike can share one valve and one schedule.

CactusOpuntia spp. & cvs. (CA natives and non-natives)very low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyCypress SpurgeEuphorbia cyparissiasvery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyVariegated Century PlantAgave americana var. marginatavery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyDesert AgaveAgave desertivery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyThread Leaf AgaveAgave filiferavery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyPalmer AgaveAgave palmerivery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulySisalAgave sisalanavery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyCentury PlantAgave spp. & cvs.very low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyBlue AgaveAgave tequilana & ssp. & cvs.very low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyUtah AgaveAgave utahensisvery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyQueen Victoria AgaveAgave victoriae-reginaevery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyBeaked YuccaYucca rostrata ssp. & cvs.very low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in JulyParry's AgaveAgave parryivery low water, Central Valley0.27 gal/sq ft in July
Minutes for your sprinklers

Turn this into minutes on your water days

Every city page has a calculator that takes butterfly agave, your sprinkler type and the month, and gives the minutes per water day for that supplier's schedule. Or put it in a zone of the personal watering plan and get all twelve months printed.

Questions people ask

How much should I water butterfly agave in summer?

In July, established butterfly agave needs about 0.2 gallons in the Central Valley, 0.6 gallons on the south coast and 0.2 gallons in the South Inland zone each week, for a plant 2 feet across. Water deeply and let the top of the soil dry before the next watering. Skip a watering after a soaking rain.

How much water does butterfly agave need per day?

In July in the Central Valley, established butterfly agave needs about 0.0 gallons a day for a plant 2 feet across and about 0.1 gallons a day for a plant 4 feet across. Give it in deep waterings spread days apart rather than a little every day, so the whole root zone gets wet.

Does watering for butterfly agave change across California?

Yes. WUCOLS rates butterfly agave separately for each of the six California climate zones: very low water in the North-Central Coastal zone, very low water in the Central Valley zone, low water in the South Coastal zone, very low water in the South Inland zone, very low water in the High and Intermediate Desert zone, very low water in the Low Desert zone. The monthly table above shows how the same rating translates into different gallon amounts as reference evapotranspiration changes.

Does butterfly agave die after flowering?

Yes. Once mature, which can be at about ten years old, it flowers, usually in fall, and then the entire plant declines and dies. It rarely makes offsets, so there may be nothing left to replace it. Plan a new plant for that spot.

How cold can butterfly agave take?

It is winter hardy to around 25 degrees F. Colder nights risk damage to the leaves and the plant. Where winters get colder, grow it in a pot and bring it under cover on frosty nights.

Why is it called butterfly agave?

The Nahuatl name papalometl means butterfly agave. Its species name, potatorum, means of the drinkers, a nod to its use in making alcoholic drinks. In the garden it is grown for its neat gray rosette.

Do deer eat butterfly agave?

It is listed as deer tolerant. The leaf edges carry brown teeth and each leaf ends in a spine about an inch long, and the plant is listed as possibly poisonous. Keep it back from paths and play areas.

Can butterfly agave get agave mites?

Yes. University of California researchers have found agave mites on butterfly agave. The mites hide deep in the core, so the first sign is greasy streaks or yellowing on inner leaves. Watering changes will not help, and badly damaged plants are best removed.

Why do butterfly agaves look so different from each other?

The species is quite variable in form. Some plants hold flat leaves straight out from the crown, while others have cupped leaves that curve back. Named selections were picked for color and shape, and they share the same sparse watering.

More plant watering guides

Palmer AgaveSisalCentury PlantBlue AgaveUtah AgaveQueen Victoria AgaveCreosote BushPurple Sage

Sources