| gave my brother these hen and chicks and now they have long thin stalks. with what look like baby hens and chick. what should i do with these stalks? will i be able to start new hen and chicks from the little ones at the ends of these stalks? i don't see any sign of roots on these stalks |
| The plant name describes the situation -- a baby plant will form at the tip of each stem. Eventually the stem will arch down and the baby will touch the soil, or it may simply fall off and land on the soil. Once it lands on the soil surface, it will root and grow. Sometimes roots begin to form before it hits the soil, too. You can detach them and transplant as desired either to start a new plant elsewhere or to thin the original planting area. Just set the baby on the soil surface, you can wiggle it down a little to get good firm soil contact, but do not bury it. In nature, over time the "mama" plant will eventually die out and the babies will be there ready to replace it; they also help expand and colonize the area so you don't really have to do anything about them. If you don't want more plants, you could leave a couple to replace the parent and give away or throw away the rest. Enjoy! |
