I just purchased a phalaenopsis schilleriana with 2 keikis. Help!

[msarro]

Hey everyone! One more update. I had been a bit hesitant to move forward with repotting this guy since I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into. However, the medium was starting to make me a bit uncomfortable, and I was feeling a bit adventurous, so I decided to repot this morning.

Several roots had adhered to the slot pot it was in (the inside of the pot was textured?) so it was a bit of a pain to remove from the pot. I ended up cutting up the slot pot and gently removing the adhered roots. I managed to only break one root tip in the process.

The sphagnum moss smelled, and was packed super tightly into the pot. It took awhile to get everything apart. All told there was only one damaged root (outside of the aerial roots that were damaged in shipping - i'm still not sure if I should just cut those off or not).

I was surprised to see that it looked like one big stem/mass of stems. Nothing seemed to indicate it was separate plants, just one plant with tons of growth and roots coming out of it. So I'm guessing it's either one plant that is super prone to making basal growths, or it's flask mates that ended up growing and intertwining so tightly with one another that they may as well be a single plant. Because of it, I decided to keep everything together. We'll see what they look like in a year or two!

I sprayed everything off with some physan, and repotted into a carousel pot with some new sphagnum moss, and a mix of bark/leca/foam. Everything got a nice soak in MSU fertilizer, kelpmax, and quantum orchid (thank you again Ray!).

It's now back in the greenhouse to settle in and be left alone. Fingers crossed!

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The eBay listing is gone so I can't see the plant.

It isn't gone you just need to scroll down.

-Keith

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by msarro

Apologies, I meant in terms of the keikis draining resources from the mother plant. I've seen videos where multiple keikis on a single mother have starved the plant, which is where I had come upon the idea.

As e.s. said, this doesn't happen. There is no way a video could show cause and effect in this case.

Originally Posted by camille1585

If the plant in the photos is what you are getting, it looks like a happy, healthy plant(s).

I agree with Camille. There is nothing about that plant that would give me cause for concern.

...go on youtube and search "missorchidgirl keiki kill mother" you'll find the [video] I'm referring to.

I found the video. MissOrchidGirl is pretty good a lot of the time, but on this she's wrong.

Originally Posted by Dusty Ol' Man

Where have you been getting cultural information from?... I have found this board to be filled with seasoned growers who will dispel the myths and give solid cultural info.

You will find that growers here speak from years to decades of experience, rather than presenting what they've read online as fact.

Orchid growing should be a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable endeavor. While your reading, researching, and leaving nothing to chance will serve you well growing orchids, it is also possible to go to far and worry your plants to death. Far more orchids that died in my care were killed by doing too much, than doing too little.


That's a pretty healthy looking orchid. I think you made a good purchase.


-Keith