Novice wondering about my orchids new growth, healthy, and identification

[kiwimonster]

I know there is a separate identification forum but I hope it's OK if I post all my questions in one thread for simplicity's sake.

I bought this orchid from Ikea originally and for a while, it had very nice flowers and even rebloomed with a second set of flowers after the first dried up and I neglected it.

I've gotten better at maintenance and have since (after the blooms died) been watering regularly once every 7 days and have replaced the crappy Ikea soil with Bonsai Jack bark potting mix. When I replaced the soil I also cut off some yellowed soft roots that were probably from my neglect / intermittent overwatering. I resisted trimming the spikes for a while thinking a third bloom might happen but gave in on that a bit ago, trimming them back only modestly, one about a month before the other.

Now I have significant new growth on one spike and *maybe* new growth on the other. Appreciate any help anyone can provide, I'm very much a novice on Orchid knowledge.

1.) Any thoughts on what type of orchid this may be? Guessing that may be difficult to say without any flowers.

2.) Is the larger new growth (first picture) a flower spike or a Keiki?

3.) Is the smaller new growth (third picture) actually new growth or nothing at all? It's not grown in size very quickly like the one on the other spike but this spike was trimmed back almost a month after the first.

4.) One leaf is a bit less healthy than the others, should I remove it?

[DirtyCoconuts]

hi and firstly, welcome.

it is a Phalaenopsis orchid but it is a NoID…

that is a keiki on the spike

I do not see anything in this picture that shows me a growth..perhaps there is some swelling below the bract but i don't see much here

i would not cut anything off this plant..the spikes are both still alive so they may grow and they can provide the mother part more nutes if needed.

glad you have a healthy orchid and that you are digging it- i don't know the mix you have but repotting it was a good move too

[kiwimonster]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

hi and firstly, welcome.

it is a Phalaenopsis orchid but it is a NoID…

that is a keiki on the spike

I do not see anything in this picture that shows me a growth..perhaps there is some swelling below the bract but i don't see much here

i would not cut anything off this plant..the spikes are both still alive so they may grow and they can provide the mother part more nutes if needed.

glad you have a healthy orchid and that you are digging it- i don't know the mix you have but repotting it was a good move too

Thank you, really appreciate it!

Is there any kind of fertilizer I should add to the watering schedule?

For the Keiki what I understand is I should wait until there are 3 inches or longer roots then I can trim it off and pot it alone, is that good procedure?

[DirtyCoconuts]

i use k-lite from FirstRays and have good results

i like to leave my keikis on the stem until i have to remove them because i think they are cool..you have correctly described the conventional wisdom on them

happy to assist

[JScott]

Originally Posted by kiwimonster

Thank you, really appreciate it!

Is there any kind of fertilizer I should add to the watering schedule?

For the Keiki what I understand is I should wait until there are 3 inches or longer roots then I can trim it off and pot it alone, is that good procedure?

I'm with Coconuts regarding the keiki. The procedure you described is the correct procedure if you want a second of the same plant, but I think it's more fun to leave them. It looks cool, like how a spider plant gets those new plants growing from stems hanging down from the plant, and it's really cool if you can get the keiki and the mother plant to flower at the same time while they are still attached. If your humidity is low, misting the roots on the keiki will help keep them growing. Sometimes in low humidity, roots on a keiki will start to grow, and then the green tips will get covered with velamen (that white stuff on the roots that soaks up water) and then they're just little root stumps. Misting them regularly, daily even, will help keep them growing in low humidity.

	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

[kiwimonster]

Originally Posted by JScott

I'm with Coconuts regarding the keiki. The procedure you described is the correct procedure if you want a second of the same plant, but I think it's more fun to leave them. It looks cool, like how a spider plant gets those new plants growing from stems hanging down from the plant, and it's really cool if you can get the keiki and the mother plant to flower at the same time while they are still attached. If your humidity is low, misting the roots on the keiki will help keep them growing. Sometimes in low humidity, roots on a keiki will start to grow, and then the green tips will get covered with velamen (that white stuff on the roots that soaks up water) and then they're just little root stumps. Misting them regularly, daily even, will help keep them growing in low humidity.

Thanks, that's helpful! I was going to ask if the expectation is that the keiki roots eventually find their way down to the potting mix or not (in the case of not detaching).

[DirtyCoconuts]

I’ll post an embedded pic tomorrow but this is Phal. Fred, one of my favorite NoIDs

I put paste on one bract and this was how he responded lol

Flickr

[DirtyCoconuts]

here's Fred and his kids...

Keikis by J Solo, on Flickr

[kiwimonster]

13 months later I want to post an update. Orchids are doing well although no new blooms yet. I think maybe I am overwatering a bit with some leaves fading and getting a bit soft so I may scale back from a soak once a week to an ice cube once every two weeks. The roots are getting crazy and I'm starting to wonder if I need to upgrade the pots to bigger sizes!

[Diane56Victor]

They are looking good, but ice cubes are not a good idea!
Phals are tropical plants they would never be subject to cold water, water just above freezing could account for the fading leaves.