Hardiness zones:
Sunset 10, 12-24
USDA 8 (sometimes injured) - 11

Landscape Use: This is another great, small agave for desert gardens and patio containers used principally as a nice small accent or specimen agave.

Form & Character: Herbaceous perennial, rosette basal habit, elegant and classy.

Growth Habit: Slow, rosette to 1.5' height with 2' spread at maturity

Foliage/texture: Rosettes of narrow, strap shaped green leaves lacking serrations on the leaf margins. Variety ocahui has white marginal filaments on it's leaves; medium coarse texture.

Flowers & fruits: Large terminal yellow flower stalk to 10' after many years, flower stalk unbranched. It is colorful, but not necessarily the most ornamental of agave flowers.

Seasonal color: None

Temperature: Injured below 15^oF or above 115^oF. 

Light: Light filtered shade to full sun

Soil: Any soil type, but thrives best if soils are well-drained

Watering: Only limited supplemental irrigation during summer months is needed to keep plants looking healthy.

Pruning: None

Propagation: Seed

Disease and pests: Root rot

Additional comments: This is a nice small agave for smaller 'up close and personal' landscape spaces used much the same as A. geminiflora or A. macroacantha, but with different textural and color characteristics. Leaves are a source of strong fibres (the word ocahui is translated to mean 'cord'). Leaves also contain saponin smilagenin which can be used as a detergent.

There are two varietal selection of Agave ocahui:

1. A. ocahui var. ocahui has stiff, smooth, dark green leaves taht are 10" to 20" long, with a dehiscent white to brown border, but no marginal teeth, and a weak, flexible spine. The rosette generally remains solitary without basal offshoots.
2. A. ocahui var. longifolia has stiff smooth leaves that are up to 3' long and 1" wide without marginal teeth.