Blooming keiki with no roots
 

I have a phal. hybrid that blooms reliably. It smells like cake icing tastes...mmmm. It has two keikis that have put off buds/blossoms, but the little plantlets have no roots. Any suggestions on "stimulating" the plant into putting off roots??:hmm Thanks, for any input. Maybe I could get off of my dud butt and post pictures....nah:yawn:

Sorry Vanessa, but I haven't seen one that didn't have "some" root to it. I have a mini that has two keikis, one with one spike & blooms and the other with 2 spikes w/blooms, plus a new spike that also has blooms. Maybe I will take pics today BUT mine do havae roots. How about rootone round the base of the keiki???

hi Vanessa
I have a white Phal Noid that had 3 keikis on it last year...in total it had 3 keikis and 5 flowers on it at the same time, it took a very long time for them to grow roots (6 months? if not more..) then all of a sudden they grew very long roots on them. I have repotted them and cut off the stems (leaving a few nodes on) as the plant has always been 'ultra strong' It has now grown two thick off shoots (one on each stem) & looks like it'll get a few more flowers! :)...so I would say...
Just be very patient!!!! mine has been flowering for over 15 months and has put out 3 new leaves as well in that time.
I'll try & add a few pictures :-

the first photo dates from august last year..the flower inthe foreground lasted the longest..its still dried up on the keiki plant. Heres a photo of 'mummy' at the moment ..she's making me a new leaf, flowers & roots ! :)

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ids_08_048.jpg

Here it is. On the top you can clearly see two keikis and three spikes. Roots are about 3-4" long. The spike on the bottom of pic. is this years spike in bloom. Enjoy!

that's a beautiful picture! nice to sit looking at a phal with that mixture of green and flowers ("bushy" )
mine wasn't quite the same it started growing leaves (kekies) & then continued flowering with only one flower between the keiki leaves.. the keikis are far from making a new flowering stem like yours has done ! but my roots were really long about 6/8" by the time I cut the keikies off mother when I came back from a months holiday in january.

Thanks for responding. Those are both beautiful plants. It's just odd to see a floriforous phal on the end of a stem connected to another floriforous phal!!:confused: And with no roots. I will give it some more time and see what "develops". Hopefully, both of the keikis will root out and I can pass them on to friends (and future addicts! ;))

Vanessa , thanks for the pic .Quite healthy plant .Our vandas grow and bloom that way.

Here is a quote from "All About Growing Orchids" page 36(Ortho Books).
"If the roots aren't coming along,bend the flower stems down and plant the keikis in a pot of bark.Once the keikis have rooted into the bark,cut them free from the flower stems."

You can remove the keiki so long as it has sufficiently sized roots (on phals - good 3 inch length per root) and they will develop roots on the spike as mine has - Just be patient .. it can take a while for the roots to develop - Check out my thread on this subject - http://www.orchidboard.com/community...iki-spike.html
and note the keiki's size and the time frame from the original post date to the date I posted updates and you can get an idea of how long it took mine to sprout 'legs'.
:coverlaugh:

Have you considered dabbing a bit of rooting hormone on the base of the keiki?

Keiki no roots
 

I'd like to share my photo as well. It has a pretty large leafed keiki but no roots. It's been 3 months now.

First, does this mean there will be no blooms for this phal anytime in the next few months (since there's no new spike, and the healthy spike only has keiki)?

Second, will it be possible for this keiki to have its own new spike for blooming?

Thank you

Vmax3000 :waving;
If you are scared you will break the stem by bending it, you can tie a wad of sphagnum peat moss around stem at the base of the kieki. Just spray it a couple times a day, try to keep it damp and it should "draw" the roots out. Putting rootone on the base of each prior to putting the moss on would not be a bad idea. When you see them emerge from the moss, you can cut the kieki off. I have heard that if you take a sterile razor, you can cut halfway through where the kieki attaches to the stem and this will make the kieki put on roots as it cannot get enough food/moisture from the parent. It is risky though as I am not good with a razor myself.
Try the sphagnum wad - we used to call this air-layering, but few people know that phrase now!
:goodluck:
Steve