all righty, i have just recently acquired two chicks-and-hens and was wondering if it was possible to keep them indoors and thriving throughout the winter. i also have an outdoor potted plant that is what appears to be a succulent that has very papery, ruffly orange flowers. the pot doesn't say what it is, and when i bought it i looked for a sign to see what it's called, but couldn't find one. any clues??? can it be kept inside?

so, have any of you kept your succulents indoors? do they do well? need special conditions? i love them, but i've never had any (just regular old houseplants) and figured that you ladies would know a thing or two about taking care of them. thanks!

*Biz*

:) While I was visiting my mom in Tennessee, her friend gave me a bunch of hens and chicks. That was about a month ago, and they're doing nicely indoors. Most of them were little ones, and I separated them all and stuck each one in a 4" pot. I haven't watered them since (and I have been told that they don't like too much water, is that right?). They are all sprouting and growing like nuts, and I'm going to have to repot them very soon, I expect.

I'm thinking about sticking them in a strawberry pot that my mom gave me, but I think I'd rather try making the herb garden lamp thing with it that was in Living Room magazine.

Here's something I found my searching for "growing hens and chicks indoors" on Google:
>http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cacti/msg0810254621073.html

I'm still looking. If I find anything else, I'll post it. I'm not sure about the other plant, but from what I read on a different site, it seems that succulents are usually hardy and do well indoors.

Hi Adaiha,

Can you please elaborate on the herb garden lamp thing you mentioned? Sounds intriguing.

thanks, nicole

Sure! I wish I could find my copy of that issue so I could scan the picture. It's not on the website.

They used a strawberry pot (it was white, I don't know if they painted it that color or not, but I'm gonna paint mine) and a wooden circle they cut out a little bit bigger than the top opening of the pot. They bought a lamp fixture and screwed it onto the center of the wooden circle and then sat the circle on top of the pot. They mentioned buying a grow light for the lamp, and put a regular shade on it. Strawberry pots have these little holes all down the sides for plants, so what you'd need to do is plant different herbs in the different holes, and viola! If I can find the magazine, I'll scan the page. :)

and this:
>http://www.desertgardens.com/c4.htm

Geesh! It took me a while to realize you guys weren't talking about real chickens and hens! I was like, "why do they stick chicken in pots?"

It's a 'slow-lissa' day, forgive me.

lissa ;)

My plants are mostly succulents (because I sometímes go away for weeks and I don't want to worry about my plants) and they stay indoors all year because they'd freeze to death otherwise. I think succulents tend to be really hardy, because they even survive at my parents' place, which means that in the winter they only get a couple of hours of daylight every day...

Hens and Chickens (must be the Northern Califorina linguistic variation) do okay in pots, but they have to be in VERY full sunlight. otherwise they get leggy and weird. i don't think they look quite as nice with a long, floppy stem. my aunt keeps hers in a large, shallow terra cotta pot on her porch, where they are in the sun most of the day, and they do great.

stella

god lissa, that cracked me up. although upon further reflection, i think i would have missed it and been confused for a minute too. =)

well, i'm glad to hear that they should do ok indoors. i think i'm going to get a shallow glazed dish and put some rocks and dirt in it and let them go as they please. maybe i'll try to find some different species of hens and chicks. i've got a great article describing all the different kinds (they're lovely) in my garden notebook.

thanks for all the help ladies. i'm gonna go check out those links now. =)

*Biz*

I live in wisconson, and My hens and chicks are rockin..even my ones outside.

I live for em..there soo cute