Watering

As our summers are longer and hotter than those in Jalisco, and we don’t have winters that drop 30+ inches of rainfall, we’ve decided to use drip irrigation. Even though agaves are desert crops, they do get thirsty and could use a little “sip” every now and again. This certainly makes sense if you want to drive yields, sugars, and maturity. In addition, buried drip with dry beds will have fewer weeds, and a grower can fertilize through the drip line. In Mexico, where plants are dry farmed, those who wish to fertilize typically use foliars.

To get things going, we give the plants a pretty good shot of water in early spring. We run our drip system for 24 hours, putting about an inch per acre. We follow this with 8-hour runs providing ~1/3rd of an inch per acre every 3-4 weeks. By the end of September, we stop irrigating altogether until the following March/April. Remember, these plants can capture dews and won’t need to be irrigated for most of the winter. In total, we’re applying approximately 3 inches of water per acre per year. We are aware of others who irrigate only at the start of the plants establishing roots and then stop irrigating at all. We may do this during extreme drought, but our experience with other crops suggest a little water and fertilizer can improve maturity/production,

If you begin to lose plants to rot, you’re likely over-irrigating. Stop and let things dry out.

hope this helps!