Is my orchid growing new orchids - Orchid Board

AnnieC91 · #1 07-10-2018, 05:22 PM

Hi

I have had this orchid I believe it to be a moth orchid for about 18 months maybe more. It has not flowered since I got it new and the flowers fell off after 2 months or so. I was about to give up trying to get it to flower again until about 8 months ago I noticed some air roots. Now 8 months later it looks like new orchids are growing on the original orchid and I am not sure what to do now. Any advice would be much appreciated as I really have no idea what is going on. Picture attached. Thanks in advance. Annabel

Bulbopedilum · #2 07-10-2018, 07:23 PM

It's a Dendrobium, not Phalaenopsis (AKA moth orchid) although there is a species called Dendrobium phalaenopsis.

It looks like your plant is growing keikis. I would leave them until they get a bit bigger and maybe separate them.

I'm not exactly sure about the separation process of "stem keikis" so I hope someone else can explain.
Good luck!

AnnieC91 · #3 07-11-2018, 05:19 AM

Thanks for the info!

fishmom · #4 07-11-2018, 02:17 PM

Bulbopedilum is correct--it is a dendrobium. Those keikis have plenty of roots to pot up now.

Many growers have found that if you leave a section of the parent plant attached to the keiki when you remove it to pot, it helps the new plant adapt. Of course, this sacrifices the stem of the parent plant that the keiki is growing from. You don't show the top of the plant, so it is hard to tell if that would be a problem or not.

While you are deciding, the plant would benefit from more moisture. A high-humidity environment or frequent misting will help those keiki roots prepare for a new home. When you decide how you want to divide the plant up, a kelp fertilizer will help the roots grow.

AnnieC91 · #5 07-11-2018, 02:27 PM

Hello many thanks for your reply to my question. I will start to mist them plenty. Looking at the plant I think if I kept part of the original plant for the keikes then there would be nothing left of it as they are all growing around the bottom area. Do you know should they be planted in one pot or should they be separated? Thanks again for your advice.

BellaOrquidea · #6 07-11-2018, 02:42 PM

I just recently separated not one but 3 keikis from my dendrobium. I disinfected a knife and cut the keikis at the base without compromising the “mother” cane. I then applied ground cinnamon to the mother cane wound.
I repotted the original plant because it was not in my preferred media and since it had just finished blooming and I felt it was the right call. I also potted one of the keikis next to the original plant to create a specimen pot. The other two I just potted into a small 4” pot and gifted them to one of my friends. But before I gave them to her I kept them for a couple of weeks and I watered every other day. They all were mature enough to sustain life on their own. The roots were more than 6” in length so they did good. One of them even grew a new growth.
The original plant is now growing and it even grew two more buds! I’m thinking all the keikis were taking so much energy from it that now that it has new media and more energy it wants to flower more!!

Pic. 1 you kinda see some of the keikis
Pic 2. The cane in front is one of those keikis and you can see some of the new buds.

I was told that dendrobium can produce keikis instead of buds if they don’t get the adequate winter rest and that’s the reason why mine ended up with so many keikis instead.

AnnieC91 · #7 07-11-2018, 02:49 PM

Wow that is fascinating. Hopefully mine will turn out as good as yours, I have 5 Keikes to remove so I am looking up how to videos on YouTube. It's great there is a forum like this for orchid dummies like me 😁

aliceinwl · #8 07-12-2018, 12:58 AM

I forget where I read it, but I read if the keike is well rooted / ready to be separated you can gently pull and twist and it will pop right off. I did this with my Den. nobile keike and then potted it up like the parent and it didn’t miss a beat and there was minimal damage to the parent.