Whoah, thanks for the advice.... I would have cut this off assuming it was weak growth from stretching. Going to wait and see what happens!

I think your plant is a Sempervivum and it is going to bloom.. cmiiw, Echeveria bloom stalks don't grow from the center..

Yes, thank you both! I’d already known this was a sempervivum but should have clarified that. Amazing that it will flower- I really would have cut this off assuming it was etoliated growth. I know from my research that the mother plant will likely die after flowering right? I suppose I will go on to raise her chicks, and their babies.

A total aside, but I recently learned on this forum that I was both misspelling and mispronouncing “etiolate”.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/etiolate

Yes, Sempervivum are monocarpic.

That's not a bloom stock on a semp. They will have a completely different appearance and it is well past their bloom season. It is just etiolation due to lack of light.

IMO, semps - hens and chicks - make quite poor houseplants. They are incredibly cold hardy - to zone 4 at least and often you will see zones 2 and 3 mentioned - and do not require anything more than a well drained spot in the garden with plenty of light....full sun preferred. Planted like that, they will never etiolate, they will produce offsets/chicks at a rapid rate and they will also develop the often unique coloration of the various cultivars far more strongly than they ever will indoors, even under lights.

More direct sun will prevent that.

Updated pic for the etiolated versus showering debate :)

Versus flowering!**

Just in case you are interested: you can go back to your post, click on edit, and fix the spelling mistake...and you could also delete the posts.

Hi all. Thanks for all of your advice so far. Here is an updated pic. Any change of opinion in the flowering camp? Do we all think this is just stretching?? If it is etiolating, I am going to trim it and increase the strength of the lamp. NYC here with a north-facing window, so no outside option here.

Still etiolating :-) Even the 'chicks' are beginning to do so.

Are the "chicks" attached by a stolon? (or were they when started to grow?)

Yes, they’re all still attached!

Do you have a clear photo showing the stolons? Sempervivum offsets are attached by the stolons. Some ppl call echeverias hens and chicks, but those do not have offsets attached by stolons best to my knowledge.

Hi again, I couldn’t get a good photo of the stolons, but included my best. The stolons are brown, firm and shiny.

Best pic of stolon

It does look like a sempervivum stolon does. They are not needed any more - you can leave them or get rid of them (stolons are not roots). I usually cut them short if separating the offsets, otherwise I just leave them. Usually, they are not even noticeable, since the offsets are often packed closer together.

I am surprised that all of your rosettes are about to bloom at the same time, usually it is most mature plant that blooms. Also, now - late in the season. I hope you'll post photo of the blooms as they start opening up. Inflorescences look bit different than any I have seen - but that could be because they are etiolated. Is there any other chicks to replace plants that will die?

Could you pls. edit your name and add general location or a growing zone? It helps to know that since you could be in location/zone we do not expect... to keep asking is waste of time since it is soon forgotten as more posts are made (you may have mentioned it already, but I would have to re--read all the posts to find out...) You are not the only one who does it, most ppl do not realize that it is sometimes important to know growing zone of the poster...

As I stated previously, these are NOT flower stalks emerging! It is far too late in the season for semps to be blooming and the offsets/chicks are too small to flower anyway. This is just simple etiolation from lack of light.

ps. I grow hundreds of these but they are all outside in full sun or darn close to it.

gardengal

I sort of agree with you - I also have hundreds of and few different ones - but stolons indicate a semp. Do you know of any other plants that are attached by stolons to mother plant? I do not - but that doesn't mean anything! I certainly could be wrong.

Also, most semps have cilia, that I do not see. But there are few without, so I wouldn't make decision based on that.

Oh, I have no doubt that these are semps!! My only debate is that the elongations are not the sign of a flower stalk developing but only a reflection of less that ideal light levels.

Sorry for misunderstanding. I thought it was about them being semps or not..I agree about the flowering.

Thanks- going to move this one to the one window with decent natural sun and hope it fares better