Method for obtaining up to 12 Keiki's per mother plant without causing her stress.

[Mothlives]

I was asking because I am very new to orchid and I thought this sounded like an interesting experiment to try when my Phal finished blooming. I didn't catch that you don't need to use chemicals, though I would prefer to use what you recommended because I am sure I will need all the help I can get. Some of the books I have been reading stated that a keiki was formed when the mother plant was sick and it was trying to save itself. From that I inferred that perhaps keiki paste wasnt the way to go if I wanted to propogate an orchid. The comment about it taking seven years to flower was just from what I had been reading about raising orchids from a flask to flower. I am sorry if I wasn't clear in my last post.

Caroline

[Stray59]

Mothlives;
Welcome to the Orchid Board!!
What you read is correct; in some cases, if a mother plant is dying it will throw either a kieki or one last bloom / spike. I think this is just an evolutionary thing myself - a dying attempt to continue the species. But this cannot be counted on.
Sometimes a plant throws a kieki because it is so happy and healthy it can; and sometimes a plant has a genetic predisposition for forming kiekis no matter what.
If you use kieki paste, you can induce formation more reliably. A healthy mother plant will carry a kieki with little stress; I have seen a plant naturally form and carry two kiekis, and three is not unheard of, but more than one is an overload unless you have a VERY vigorous and healthy plant.
But, if you should want to develop kiekis and you want to get the "biggest bang for your buck" without ANY stress to the mother plant the above method sounds just perfect. Kiekis form quicker and mature in a couple of years in contrast to seedlings which DO take several years to mature.
Since most stems are just thrown out, this is sort of a "Can't Lose" situation.
I hope this helps clear up some of your questions about kiekis.
Have a great New Year!!
Steve