Need advice to harvest a baby and plant it properly

[JB1982]

I am going to be a Dad. I have a baby to harvest from it's Mom and plant in it's own medium. I have been watching it and it finally is growing an air root which I was told somewhere is necessary to remove it and plant it. I have two questions. How much of the stem must stay with the shoot cut below or above the growth joint. Second is medium. I have a bag of commercial stuff which is rather coarse, wood chips etc. Advice requested.

[neophyte]

First, congrats! Usually you would want to wait until the root is several inches long before removing the keiki, and even then it would be preferable to wait for multiple roots to emerge. I'm not sure if it's just the lighting, but the plant looks a bit dehydrated. Maybe try wrapping something moist around the new root? I'm honestly not sure where you would want to cut below the keiki (or if it matters too much). Regarding the medium, it depends on the humidity of your house. If bark tends to dry out quickly in your place, you may need to water much more frequently or use a more moisture-retaining medium.

[fishmom]

Your baby will be healthier if you let it remain with its mom for a while longer. Ideally, one or more roots, 3-4 inches long, would be the signal for becoming independent. An occasional misting of that new root will help keep it growing.


When the time comes, a couple of inches of the spike will help stabilize the new baby in its pot. The chunky bark mix will be fine, but you will need to water regularly, and maybe more frequently than you do the Mom, to keep it moist.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[JB1982]

Thanks all, I will step up the watering and misting. Our house is dry and I need to be more attentive.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Ray]

Forget misting. It is of no value.

Water the plant more.

I never leave the keiki attached to the spike, but “snap” it off of the spike instead, and usually do so when the plant has about 4” of total root length, whether that is one, 4” root, four, 1” roots, or anything in between.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[neophyte]

Originally Posted by Ray

Water the plant more.

Oops. I forgot the obvious one. Just be sure to increase the amount of water the mother plant (and thus the keiki) gets! If your house is drier, it's true that a few puffs of misting may not be enough to keep the plant moist.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[estación seca]

I would wait until spring no matter how long the roots get.

[Ray]

Another option, but one that takes more handling skills to avoid spillage, is to position a pot of medium under the keiki, bending the spike a tiny bit if necessary and anchoring to the to pot, and let the thing root while attached.

Once it has begun growing, snip the spike and separate them.

[estación seca]

Just noticed these are your first posts - Welcome!