Den kingianum keiki's

[Fiona]

My Den kingianum only had one spray of flowers this season, further it developed a whole lot of keiki's. When repotting, (it was in the old pot for quite a few years) discovered that the old mix was stale, and divided it into 3 plants. They have now been in the new pots for about 3 months, and are going mad forming keiki's. Should I just leave them to go mad and develop keiki's, or should the keiki's be removed? It is now mid summer in SA.

Fiona

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I think it's better to leave the keikis on the plant until they grow 1 1/2" to 2" roots (3.75 cm to 5 cm) long roots, or until the keikis are easily removed without much effort.

[Fiona]

Thanks King, I will continue to do so.

[Becca]

We would love to see pictures of your keiki's growing!

[Fiona]

Will take some pics tomorrow and try and post them, it is 11:22 pm here at the moment.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You know what...

I have a hunch as to why not so many flowers were produced and so many keikis were produced instead.

Have you tried to pot one of the divisions up into a granite or sandstone potting medium?

Leave the other two grown as epiphytes in wood chips. But try one potted in stone.

See if this makes a difference.

The added advantage of growing Den kingianum as a lithophyte instead of an epiphyte is that you don't have to change out the medium.

Another thing to think about is conducting an experiment. When the keikis are ready to be potted up individually, try potting half in wood chips, and the other half in granite or sandstone. Observe and record.

[Fiona]

Will def try the stone, great idea. I only have tiny smooth river pebbles, do you think the granite/sandstone would be better.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yes, try small to medium sized pieces of sandstone or granite.

I don't think the river pebbles would work.

I'm more certain of this working with granite or sandstone.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Yes, try small to medium sized pieces of sandstone or granite.

I don't think the river pebbles would work.

I'm more certain of this working with granite or sandstone.

Does granite/sandstone have magical properties that I am unaware about? River pebbles are still rocks, so the plant would grow as a lithophyte anyways.

I don't know if it's true, but I've read somewhere a while ago that keiki production on kingianums is independant of culture, meaning that some clones are more prone to keiki than others. I can't verify that since I only have one of these! The keikis take really quickly. I potted some with hardly any roots, and they just took off like that others.

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Does granite/sandstone have magical properties that I am unaware about? River pebbles are still rocks, so the plant would grow as a lithophyte anyways.

I don't know if it's true, but I've read somewhere a while ago that keiki production on kingianums is independant of culture, meaning that some clones are more prone to keiki than others. I can't verify that since I only have one of these! The keikis take really quickly. I potted some with hardly any roots, and they just took off like that others.

I'm not sure, but I think river pebbles would be much smoother, so less pockets for moisture retention.