hens and chicks plant inside

Question

This plant has a small plant at the centre and then 13 long “branches” spouting out. The “leaves” on these branches are all brown (dead) from the center for about 3 inches, then the rest of the branch has new, green “leaves.” Makes for a very scraggly looking plant. Does it need water? Should I take these branches off?
Thanks.

Answer 1

As seen in the pictures with the following articles, hens and chicks plants produce baby plants (the “chicks”) on branches which grow from a center plant (the “hen”). The baby plants can naturally have more purplish leaves that may appear brown, but if those leaves are dry or shriveled, they are unhealthy for some reason.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/hens-chicks/growing-hens-and-chicks.htm
http://www.youngs-garden.com/blog/propagate-hens-chicks/

The whole plant may need water: feel the surface of the soil to see if it has dried out. Succulents need less water than most plants, but they do need some. If they are squishy, on the other hand, that means they are rotting and have been overwatered.

You can either remove the baby plants if you don’t want them, or let them keep growing and use them to make more plants, as described in the articles.