Plant in full sun to light shade in most any soil type that drains well. Requires very little irrigation in summer months but looks best with an infrequent soaking in late spring and early summer and is reliably cold hardy to 15°F and there have been reports of it going undamaged at 6°F . This is a great smaller agave that looks a bit like a dark green yucca and works in well in the succulent garden or as a patio container specimen and reportedly tolerates hot desert sun and reflected heat.

Agave ocahui is native to the rocky slopes from 1,500 to 4,500 feet in northeastern areas of the Mexican state of Sonora. The name for the genus is one given by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus. It comes from the Greek word 'agaue' (agauos or agavos) meaning "noble" or "splendid" and originates from Greek mythology. Agaue was the daughter of Cadmus, the king and founder of the city of Thebes, and of the goddess Harmonia. The name was first used by Linnaeus in 1753 when he described Agave americana. The specific epithet "ocahui" was the name was used by the indigenous Sonoran Desert population for "fiber" and "cordage" and called this plant by this name as the leaf fibers were used to make rope. Other common names include Ojahui and Amolillo and this later name is a reference to the possible use of the saponin smilagenin in the leaves that was used to make soap (Amole is the common name of our native soap plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum). Our original stock plants of this wonderful smaller agave came to us from Greg Starr of Starr Nursery in Tucson in 2009 but we were fortunate to get a larger quantity in 2019 from the Huntington Botanic Garden of their 2017 International Succulent Introduction ISI 2017-7 Agave ocahui Gentry that came from bulbils from their collection HBG 29785, which was a plant from a Howard Scott Gentry and John Weber collection in July, 1966 from Sierra Baviso of Sonora, Mexico. 

Information displayed on this page about Agave ocahui is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.