Plant in full sun to light shade in a relatively well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally. This plant came onto the horticultural scene in California in 2008 so we are still discovering its drought tolerance and cold hardiness. Given this plant's parentage we speculate that it will likely be hardy in most coastal California gardens and should be able to get by with only limited irrigation. There are some good reports on Xeric World that indicate that it has tolerated temperatures down to 26° F with moist soils in Monterey County (by Richard Pontius) - good to distinguish this as some succulents seem much more prone to problems in our mediterranean climate with its cool and moist winter than just cold weather. Greg Starr in Tucson also indicated that it has tolerated temperatures down to 22° F for him.

This compact plant is and attractive Agave-like plant and is great in a container or planted out in the garden. The origin of this apparent Agave x Manfreda hybrid is a bit of a mystery, but the plant is believed to be a Agave macroacantha hybrid with Manfreda maculosa that may have originated in Japan.

In the recent treatment in "Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants; Moncotyledons" edited by Urs Eggli (2001) Joachim Thiede, the author on the Agavaceae, combined Polianthes (Tuberose) and Manfreda into Agave, thus making the Mangave actually an interspecific Agave hybrid - for now we will leave it as x Mangave but note that this plant is sometimes listed as Agave hybrid 'Bloodspot' or 'Blood Spot'. This really was one of the first of the hybrid "Mangaves" to come on the horticultural scene with only x Mangave 'Macho Mocha' from Yucca Du Nursery predating it. Since its introduction the world of Mangave has expanded greatly due to the work done by Hans Hansen at Walters Nursery, whose line of plants has become the Mad About Mangave Collection. We grew this interesting early Mangave cultivar from 2008 util 2021 and thank Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery for the use of his image of this unusual and attractive plant. 

This information about Mangave 'Bloodspot' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.