Agave in water smells terrible, is there a problem?

[Pablo]

I had a few agave in some soil, I was on a kick and put allot of plants in jars of water. Including an agave. It looks alright but when I replace the water it gives out the worst possible smell. It's literally terrible. I've smelt some nasty stuff and I'd put the Agave water smell at the top of the list. Is there a problem with it? Should I put it back in the soil? I change the water often, maybe about every 3 days. There is also a mucous like substance forming around the roots and water line. A theory of mine is that the water is just drawing out Agave juices or sap, whatever. What do you guys think?

 

[Chuck]

I don't know about agave but soil roots and water roots are different. I would say that the soil roots are dead and decomposing. My mom used to stick sweet potatoes in water and the plant would grow like crazy. I once took one and planted it in soil. It was dead within a week. Has the agave plant started sending out little tiny roots?

 

[Pablo]

I don't know about agave but soil roots and water roots are different. I would say that the soil roots are dead and decomposing. My mom used to stick sweet potatoes in water and the plant would grow like crazy. I once took one and planted it in soil. It was dead within a week. Has the agave plant started sending out little tiny roots?

It has been in the water for almost 3 weeks now, it actually looks perfectly healthy. I also have two sweet potatoes in two cups of water that I started growing the same time as the agave. I change the potato water and it smells just as foul as the agave water but they aren't similar. The potato seems to be lacking in root growth, the roots don't look happy but I'm going to change the water more often.