Question
Hi, I have some hens & chicks which are in a strawberry pot, doing very well even with all the rain we have had lately.  Some of them have put out little "chicks" with rather long arms on them from the mother plant; I'm talking up to 3 inches.  I want to pluck these off and pot them to make new plants.  Do I remove the "arm" and place just the little chick in the soil, or place chick and arm both?  Will the little arm root as well?  I hope I am being clear on what I mean by "arms"- the little protrusions coming from the mother plant which hold the baby.  Thanks so much.

Answer
Hello Patricia,

"Hens and Chicks" is a common name shared by two of my favorite succulents, sempervivum and echeveria along with a few others. There are some pretty big differences between all these plants but in terms of propagation they are all similar enough that not knowing which you have wont really matter.

Those arms are actually called stolons (bit of vocab for ya :) ) and you'll want to cut them near the base of the pup you want to replant. Put the pup in a warm dry place for a day or two to let the cut dry and callus over. Then plant the pup in moist potting medium. Within a few weeks it should begin to grow roots. However, the preferred method (at least for me) is to arrange the stolons so that the base of the pups are touching soil. They will begin to grow their own roots while still connected to the mother plant. Once they have roots you can cut them off the stolon and plant them.
Let me know if you have any more questions.

Justin