Keikis growing on dead mother, plis help!!

[bnegrete]

Hi!

This was a very sick Phal... It lost all it's leaves and has crown rot... I'm treating it with Hydrogen peroxyde but IT is not getting any better. It has two keikis which I spray daily, but I think they are not going yo make it since the mother is out of it's S/H media and just getting water with little fert from the spraying.

Another one is in the same condition!! They came together in a bouquet... This second one is growing a new spike from the old spike.

Should I cut the crown completely off and try placing the spikes in water with fert or superthrive? Or continue like this?

Any help would be deeply apreciated!! Thanks!!

[bnegrete]

This is the crown...

[RosieC]

Well the crown is not really there any more and I would say is completely dead. That being the case I think it would be best to cut it off, high enough to ensure no rot from it spreads up the spike, then put the spike in water.

Others have had success getting a keiki to grow bigger with the spike in water so it's worth a try. I don't think you will lose anything by removing this crown.

[Island Girl]

^+1 I agree with Rosie, the crown is gone, the kieke may be as well... Sorry

But, there's nothing to lose by putting the cut spike in water...

[Nexogen]

Unfortunately no way, for you, keiki is gone, but understanding; air, temperature, light, wetness, fertilizer, pH and Pest/disease problems is all you need to know for the future.

[Bud]

I see the keiki is starting to rot ....since it has no roots and is dependent on the spike; it is also dying....look at the color of the base of the keiki attaching itself to the spike=it is dark to almost black

[RosieC]

Good spot Bud. Looking again I see black across the spike where the keiki joins it. I think the keiki will soon die back, sorry

[Connie Halvorsen]

Don't give up I have same problem. I have a spike with 4 phal. Keikis . I cut the spike 1and a half inches below keiki group . (Their all together on one small spike . I put hydroton in warm water after washing it. The water also had Super thrive and rapid root in it for five minutes. Took hydroton out put it in very small net hydroponic pot with the brack with keiki in it. I put this in a larger sandwich meat plastic container with rocks around the pot to hold it up. Put the hole thing in a large plastic zip bag . Once a day I open the bag enuft to put a staw into the opening and blow air into the bag. They say plants breath in what we breath out. my keiki are two weeks with out mom now. I re do water same way ever 6 days or when the media is looking almost dry.

[bwehr28]

If I cut a spike because it is dying at the base of the plant, do you cut at a node or just above or below one?

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by bwehr28

If I cut a spike because it is dying at the base of the plant, do you cut at a node or just above or below one?

Hi bwehr28, usually it's better to ask a question in a new thread. People are more likely to see it and respond that way. Sometimes people don't see old threads. You could have started a new thread in the Beginners forum to ask this question.

People cut Phal spikes in two different ways. It's a matter of personal taste, and either way is fine for the plant.

If there are nodes that have not flowered, some people cut above them. The plant might make more flowers from those nodes in the next flowering seaon, or it might make a new plantlet from those nodes (called a a keiki.) Those plantlets may be separated when big enough and grown on as new plants.

Other people cut the spike off near the base. Some people prefer the look of flowering on new stems each year.