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Products > Agave 'Tres Equis'
 
Agave 'Tres Equis'
   
Image of Agave 'Tres Equis'
 
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Succulent
Family: Agavaceae (now Asparagaceae)
Origin: Mexico (North America)
Evergreen: Yes
Bloomtime: Infrequent
Height: 3-4 feet
Width: 3-4 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Summer Dry: Yes
Deer Tolerant: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): No Irrigation required
Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F
May be Poisonous  (More Info): Yes
Agave 'Tres Equis' - An upright growing agave with open rosettes to 3 to 4 feet tall with blue green canaliculate rough textured leaves marked with gray horizontal bands and prominent wide spaced and attractive teeth along the margins.

Plant in full to part sun in a well-draining soil and irrigation infrequently to not at all in coastal gardens. This plant is said to be hardy to the low teens° F. with minimal damage. Gray banding is most notable when this plant is grown dry and overwatering or planting in gardens with abundant rainfall will produce plants lacking this feature.

Agave 'Tres Equis' is a variety that Yucca Do named and introduced in 2014. I was one of several varieties that Wade Roitsch and Carl Schoenfeld selected a decade earlier while traveling in northeastern Mexico near the Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon border where there were converging populations that included Agave americana var. protoamericana, Agave asperrima and A. gentryi and this plant is believed these to be of hybrid origin between these species. In their listing of this plant they noted: "One plant in particular seemed to be the most ornamental with its gray-green horizontal markings and widely spaces marginal teeth. It was the best of this hybrid conglomeration, and we labeled it 'Tres Equis'! The plant produces medium-sized, open rosettes composed of erect spreading leaves that are a silver in color but exhibit darker greener horizontal striping erratically along the leaves length, often referred to as banding. The texture of the leaf surface is scabrous and the leaves become channeled with age. A plant sure to stir debate amongst agavephiles on blog postings internet wide. The plant will be happy in dry, bright shade or full sun. For the leaf banding to be most pronounced the plant need to be grown in a moderate to low rainfall region. In wet, wet areas ( regions averaging over 35" of rain a year) the leaf banding gets washed out and may not exhibit well."

We thank Dr. Don Merhaut Extension Specialist Nursery and Floriculture Crops with UC Cooperative Extension for providing us with stock plants of this cultivar. 

Information displayed on this page about Agave 'Tres Equis' 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.

 
San Marcos Growers closed for regular business at the end of 2025 as the property is being developed for affordable housing.
While our gates remain closed, we will open them by appointment so we can liquidate remaining plants, supplies and equipment. The plants remaining in the field are listed on our Live Inventory Page.
 
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