Potting of Keiki 1 and Phal. mommie

     Although Keiki 1 was not necessarily ready to be potted up yet, it needed some source of moisture desperately. I was planning to mount this specific keiki on cork, but I would never be able to keep up with its watering needs to keep it alive. The spike it was growing off of has finally completely dried up.

     After a bit of maturing, I still plan on mounting this plant. For now, lets see where nature takes it.

     Phal "mommie", also in desperate need of water, has finally pushed a root. I also spy yet another leaf ready to poke out of the crown, and it is frustrating the living crap out of me. It has absolutely no energy to waste on a 4th leaf that will just be stunted! (AHHHHH!)
     I took the same approach as the keiki, and just potted it up in hopes of the best. I am really tired of misting, and adjusting, and checking, and disinfecting. Just not worth my time and frustration.

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.

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.