Using kelp fertilizer or coconut milk/water to produce keiki
 

Has anyone had success using this method? I have no keiki paste, but read a couple of threads mentioning it as a possibility and would like to try this.

Ray mentioned that certain kelp fertilizers have a lot of cytokinins in them. Same idea with the coconut milk/water.

Thanks for your knowledge!

I don't know a good answer for you, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I have been considering making a "cloning gel" out of KelpMax and agar...

I think you want Coconut water (instead of milk). It is the liquid endosperm. Concentration of cytokinins are variable (depending on the age of the fruit). Some people say that the fresh one is better than the canned ones.

I tried spraying canned ones for a while, but I didn't see much difference (good or bad). But it is quite likely that the concentration of cytokinins was off. As with any hormones, response is usually concentration dependent, but non-linear, and you could see the opposite response if it is too high etc.

Ray, as you know, the ratio is important. If KelpMax works well for root, it won't work well for releasing the lateral buds from apical dominance.

Thanks for the info! And the correct spelling of cytokinins. So much to learn.

True enough, Naoki, but KelpMax has such a wide array of chemicals in it - auxins, cytokinins, amino acids, vitamins, gibberellins, abscisic acid, brassinosteroids - that I thought it might be worth experimenting with...

I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can soak sphagnum moss in the coconut water or kelp and attach that to a node on the spike and leave there to see if it would produce a keiki. Would this be something you might suggest to start?

It would be worth a try and nothing to lose really. I have read that coconut water was used in flasks at one time. I have used it on an ailing Cattleya and it shot up about 9 new little growths from the base where I had been applying it. In the end the plant still died, likely not enough roots or life to support the new growths. But it still did produce a real cluster of new growths where only 1 or 2 would have been normal.

silken,

how did you apply it? Pour it into media like fertilized water or will that cause rot, fungus, etc.?

Yes, that is how I applied it. It was a few years ago, so don't remember real specific details. I think it is best applied where you want the growth. If it's a Phal keiki you want, I would think wrap something soaked in it on a spike node.

In a scientific forum what you just stated would be considered at most a HYPOTHESIS. What I can not understand is how did you get 9 growth from the base of a cattleya pseudobulb when it usually has 1 or 2 dormant buds. I am curious because we could became rich with your discovery.

---------- Post added at 04:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:28 AM ----------

Based on my own experience and later logical conclusion I can assert to you that coconut water will only bring you a fungal outbreak. Coconut water is used in flasking which is a sterile environment no bacteria or fungus around. Your media has bacteria and fungus and adding coconut water which has sugars will be like feeding gasoline to a smoldering fire. I did not ask for advise like you and applied the coconut water to 5 orchids, now they are history. A college professor used to say either you pay for a college education or with life experience.