Keiki 2 removed and potted

     While this keiki has been removed from the mother plant for months now, I have just now removed it from the inflorescence and potted it up on its own. The leaves show a bit of wrinkling from dehydration. I believe this was the best time to just bite the bullet and pot it up, in hopes of the tiny roots providing better hydration than the cut inflorescence did.

About 6 stubby .5 inch roots.

     The rule of thumb for keiki removal is "3 inches of roots"; this can be 3 one inch roots or 1 long three inch root. This keiki did not truly fulfill the requirement, yet seems to be doing okay right now. I snipped the stem just above and below the attachment point and let the plantlet soak in warm water, barely laced with Physan for 5 minutes. In the meantime, I prepared a tiny 2 inch plastic pot by layering LECA on the bottom.

     Finally, I surrounded the keiki with oncidium/seedling mix from Repotme. The roots are barely touching the mix, just resting on it. The keiki is somewhat unstable in the pot, but I do not plan to disturb it, even for watering. It can be easily and thoroughly watered with my misting bottle until it becomes more established in the pot.

Rootless keikis + Phal. NoID Mommie update

Keiki 1 left, keiki 2 right.

     Yes, another quick update.  It feels like time is passing by so quickly now with these little buggers. Not much to say, just some pictures.

Keiki 2 with lots and lots of root nubs.

keiki 1 with only 3 roots.

     Phal. Mommie, on the other hand has not made any progress. I placed her in a cup of LECA to keep the lone root dry. The bottom most leaf has yellowed and turned crunchy around the edges. I snipped it off at the base and placed it back in the same window.

Rootless removed keikis: Update.

     The keikis that were previously cut off the mom plant are still in my closet, in a cup of water. They have been doing great, but once again are showing wrinkly leaves. The method has been efective for about a month and has bought the baby plants enough time to grow a bunch of roots.

     I dont know exactly what caused all this rooting on keiki 2's stem. Even the unknown nub has shown 3 root bumps, as seen above. For now, I am assuming the drop of Superthrive I placed in the water is responsible for the fast growth.

     Above is keiki 2, showing 4 root growths on right side. This keiki is much more wrinkled compared to keiki 1. Im going to try and keep it in the water cup as long as possible before its removal and final transplant.

     Above, the left side of keiki 2 shows 3 more roots. A total of 7 have started growing within the last month.

     Keiki 1 has done little when it comes to root growth. It is concentrating more on pushing a new leaf.

     The mother plant is still hanging on for its life. I am misting its lone, stubby, aerial root daily. Its condition has not improved but has not become any worse since the keikis have been removed.

Removal of keiki 1 and rootless keiki 2

     About 2 weeks ago, both keikis on phalaenopsis NoID "mommie" were becoming thirsty, wrinkled, and floppy. I removed keiki 2 from the weak, dying mother  and  reasoned that cutting it off of the plant would push more energy towards keiki 1 (which had a higher chance of survival, due to an already developed, yet small root). I felt too guilty to just throw the keiki out, so I cut the whole spike, threw it in a small cup of water, placed it in a forgotten corner, and let nature take its course.

     One week later, I come back and see that abandoned keiki 2 is doing better than keiki 1, that is still attached to the mother. I took the plunge and cut keiki 1 off, also.

The keikis re-plumped their leaves while in the water cup, as if they were never wrinkled and parched. 

Cut spikes with keikis - keiki 1 right, keiki 2 left

I have been holding the stems in a cup of approximately 6oz water, laced with 3 drops Physan and 2 drops mixed fertilizer. I also lightly wrapped the base of each keiki with unraveled cosmetic cotton balls. I moistened the cotton with the solution above and added a drop of Superthrive to each cotton bunch once it was wrapped on the keiki.

Rootless keiki 2

Keiki 1 with some rooting.

     I am extremely, extremely pleased and surprised at the results Im getting! Within 1 week, Keiki 1 started growing another leaf and pushed another plump root, while keiki 2, which used to be rootless is showing very tiny root nubs!  I am honesty flabbergasted, since I expected nothing from my 'experiment'.

     I cant say what exactly is causing the good results - The Superthive? The fact that the stem is in water? A mix of everything?

Keiki 1 with older .5 inch root and brand new root nub.

Previously rootless, half dead keiki 2 - now with two tiny root nubs (left & center green nubs) 

   I have placed both keikis back into the forgotten corner, and bagged them to keep humidity in my dry closet. Lets see how far this method can go.

Root rot on Phal. NoID w/ keikis

Leaves showing some distress - Drooping and thinning especially on the bottom two.

 
      I think I finally understand why this Phal is pushing keikis.

     When I originally picked up this Phal. NoID I had no idea that it would push keikis from its spikes. It root system wasn't ideal, but still nice compared to what I usually find in big-box stores. Nothing I couldn't handle or havent fixed on previous orchids. The roots were slightly rotted, so I clipped, disinfected, soaked in SuperThrive solution, then potted into bark. About 4 months later, the plant became very thirsty and droopy. To my dismay, half of the existing root system was dead. This time, I clipped and disinfected with Physan and a fungicide to be safe before repotting into spag/bark mix. I added some chopped spag to keep up with the plants thirst, but made sure to keep it very airy. The medium dried completely about every 3 days. Afterwards, the phal was rather happy for another 4 months.

Post rot removal. 3 roots keeping this phal alive, all showing signs of rot, too.

     Recently, more drooping made me worried. I unpotted one last time to find 3 stubby roots keeping this Phal alive. There is one, stubby, somewhat healthy green areal root, but it rarely receives moisture so I doubt it contributes much. I cleared away the major rot, and once again soaked in Physan. The 3 roots I left all show black (but not mushy) rot. I will let them just slowly rot away and provide some water to the plant before I lop them off. There is no signs of new root growth, despite treatment with Superthrive.
   I am at loss - is this viral rot? And why would a rotting, on-the-brink-of-death Phal grow 2 new leaves?

Keiki 1 (right) and Keiki 2 (left)

 
   Keiki 1 has finally grown a nice root. It has attached itself to the cork, just like I wanted it to.
   I honestly am not too concerned about the mom. I of course will try to keep it alive but will not extenuate myself, especially since its a NoID and since I have 2 keiki clones.

     Hoping for the best, but dont expect any good news out of the mom.

Phal NoID "Mommie" + keiki #1 & 2

Keiki #1, Rubber-banded to cork mount.

     Im happy to introduce Phal "Mommie", quickly named so after I found 2 keikis growing on its spike. It is one of my healthiest plants and continues to grow leaves and roots despite supporting 2 (possibly a 3rd) keikis. I have read on a few blogs that the mom will sulk and even die after raising the keikis but my plant seems to be doing great. It is housed in a plastic pot filled with bark to keep moisture high, and was originally placed in grow area 2 (the quarantine area) after I noticed a few mealy bugs. The first few leaves on keiki 1 are slightly scarred from mealy bug dammage.

Mother plant, two new leaves on top.

keiki 1, left side with (mysteriously) damaged root.

Keiki 1, right side with new root.

 

















     As seen in the first picture, keiki 1 has been already mounted onto cork, despite not having strong roots. I want the roots to latch on as soon as possible to the cork mount, so it can be removed and let the mom grow without strain.  The sooner cork is introduced, the sooner it can happen! The cork is standing up by itself, attached to a stake, and lightly rubber-banded to the spike. It is not placing any weight on the spike this way. Hopefully, everything will work out.

keiki 2, no roots.