Asked on Sep 10, 2014

Hen & Chicks

Helene Salowitz
by Helene Salowitz
I purchased hen and chicks in this pot. My question is that one of the hens has grown out from the pot. Do I remove it and repot it? in soil? in water? Thanks
  3 answers
  • Carole Carole on Sep 10, 2014
    These hens and chicks are succulents and succulents with rosette shape are very easily propagated. Remove the escapee - cut at the stem with a sharp, clean knife or secateurs and let the stem dry out for a couple of days - keep it indoors till the cut heals over and hardens off or else there is a risk of germs getting into the stem. Once dry, it is OK to pot it up into some succulent / cacti potting mix. It needs to be a free draining mix - these little guys do not like wet feet as it can cause them to rot. Then just leave it to do it's thing. It should take root and make a clone plant of the parent plant. These instructions are good for most succulent types as they propagate and put off 'pups' very easily. You can also propagate from pulling off a leaf cleanly on some and letting it dry off and laying it on some potting mix for some of these type of plants. New roots form at the base of the leaf. These might be a bit thin leaved to do that with and some of the more fleshy types of succulent may fare better with that method. Good luck! Oh, if you find leaves die off at the lower part of the plant, just gently pull them off, this is quite normal and does not mean the plant is sick. If the plant gets too 'leggy' ie the stem gets longer and longer, you can cut the rosettes off in the way described earlier and just replant so that you keep them a nice compact shape.
  • Helene Salowitz Helene Salowitz on Sep 10, 2014
    @Carole you are amazing, thank you for your help. Have a great evening!
    • Carole Carole on Sep 10, 2014
      @Helene Salowitz Helene, I used to have about 70 garden pots of all shapes and sizes, all full of succulents and cacti. We had a courtyard and no garden as such and were renting, so potted plants were the way to go. Possums used to eat any flowers, so that is why I turned to cacti in the first place - the only thing the possums would not eat due to the spikes. They still grazed on my succulent plants sometimes, but not enough to kill them off! LOL! I am well versed in potting up the many 'pups' these plants produce and have given many away to friends who now have their own plants and are doing the same - repotting pups and giving them away to their family and friends. Spreading the love you might say! Interesting fact for you: All cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti. (in the same way that all salmon are fish, but not all fish are salmon). It is morning here in Australia as I type this, but you have a great evening too!
  • Helene Salowitz Helene Salowitz on Sep 10, 2014
    @Carole good morning to you, and thanks again!