36 Foot Agave Plant in Ocean Beach Towers Over Everything Else … For Now

There’s a 36 foot giant agave plant towering over everything else along Point Loma Avenue in Ocean Beach these days. Right now it towers over other plants, trees, nearby homes, palm trees and power lines. But as agave observers know, it’s all temporary and in just months, the large stock will look much different.

It’s all happening in Bridget Seegers’ front yard. It was a six-foot agave plant when Bridget moved in around four years ago. Her neighbors say it had been about the same size for 30 or 40 years. That changed in April when the plant suddenly began sprouting, as CBS8 reported. She told the station:

“It wasn’t just like a little flower stalk or something going on. You’re like, suddenly there’s a giant tree, like thing growing. As it started to grow, it would start maybe even growing six to eight inches a day. And it kept going up and up and going and going and going.”

Her brother and next-door neighbor, Tim Seegers, has also been watching closely.

“Watching it bloom, and all the hummingbirds and other birds and bees come through, it’s been pretty fun to watch.”

Bridget added:

“This is their grand finale. It’s shooting up this giant stock, and, like, taking all their energy and creating all the flowers. …I feel like this whole area is dedicated to the agave. So maybe another agave is the right choice.”

The flowers have now been pollinated, and the plant has begun dropping seeds. Next, the agave will die, though no one knows when or in which direction it will fall. Even after it collapses, the plant won’t be gone for good. Agaves leave behind “pups,” or smaller plants, as well as seeds that can sprout new growth.

Agave plants typically grow between 20 to 30 feet. Neighbors wanted to know just how tall this one had become, and they found different ways to measure it. It was estimated to be about 36.5 feet.