acquired a free Phal today...need help, please

[VickiC]

Yes, hopefully the manager will be more carely from now on.....it's not at all fair to his customers. I'm excited about trimming and repotting the keike. Thanks for clueing me in on how to do it. Since this will be my first time, I can't wait to see if I did what I was supposed to so that it will grow up healthy and happy. As for Mom.....I'm looking forward to taking care of her, too. My problem will be patience...it's not one of my virtues, unfortunately.
Thanks again,
Vicki

Originally Posted by dgenovese1

Hi Vicki,
It sounds like you made a good decision in telling the manager about your bad experience, and it looks like you've got yourself a couple of orchids there, and healthy ones to boot...I count the keiki as a separate plant.

Some folks may argue with me, but I cut off phal keikis when they have 3, 2 inch long roots growing from them...and from the looks of yours, it's time to remove it and pot it up. I would remove it by cutting the stem it is growing from just below where it is attached. I would also remove any additional stem material from above where it is growing. I would sprinkle the stem ends with a fungicide or ground cinnamon, and then plant the keiki like any other phal, making sure that it is secure in its new pot.

The only other thing I would consider doing is to remove all of the old stems from the mother plant (except the blooming one). Having just transplanted it, this will give the plant more energy to develop more roots, rather than try to push more buds out of its old stems. Plus when the new spikes form in the future, they will be bigger and produce more flowers. We like more flowers!

[VickiC]

Thank you for your input, Becca. As I told David, I'm looking forward to taking care of Mom and her lil baby.
Thanks again,
Vicki

Originally Posted by Becca

Wow that is one big keiki! I would recommend separating it from the mother plant, as David did, and pot it! It looks like the roots are long enough!

[VickiC]

Thank you for taking time to clue me in, Brooke. As I have already mentioned...patience in seeing (hopefully!) the plants grow...(or not grow, I don't want to think about) will be my problem...I should work on that. Not a good trait.

Originally Posted by brooke

I bury the aerial roots and just watch the watering.

Brooke

[VickiC]

I'm sorry, but I have had no experience with keikes, either....although I have found that several people here on the board have. I'm certainly going to take their advice. I do hope you read what they told me and have good luck with potting your keike.
Vicki

Originally Posted by RosieC

I have no experience of keiki's so I have a question of the back of this thread.

When potting up a keiki like this one what do you do with the existing roots?

I've read a lot about how arial roots on phals should NOT be planted into medium as they will rot. What I've read said that arial roots have a different outer coating and they should not be put under the medium. (My mum also tried tucking the arial roots of her Phal into the medium and they rotted.)

So do you just place it on top of the medium leaving the roots out (hoping it will then grow other roots into the medium, or DO you bury the roots?

[cb977]

Originally Posted by dgenovese1

Hi Vicki,
It sounds like you made a good decision in telling the manager about your bad experience, and it looks like you've got yourself a couple of orchids there, and healthy ones to boot...I count the keiki as a separate plant.

Some folks may argue with me, but I cut off phal keikis when they have 3, 2 inch long roots growing from them...and from the looks of yours, it's time to remove it and pot it up. I would remove it by cutting the stem it is growing from just below where it is attached. I would also remove any additional stem material from above where it is growing. I would sprinkle the stem ends with a fungicide or ground cinnamon, and then plant the keiki like any other phal, making sure that it is secure in its new pot.

The only other thing I would consider doing is to remove all of the old stems from the mother plant (except the blooming one). Having just transplanted it, this will give the plant more energy to develop more roots, rather than try to push more buds out of its old stems. Plus when the new spikes form in the future, they will be bigger and produce more flowers. We like more flowers!

Wow David!
You saved me a lot of



It was like my life flashing before my eyes!

[VickiC]

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but I'm just trying to send an update to you about my Phal and keiki.

I removed the keike from it's "Mom" and potted it. I repotted Mom, as well. Mom and baby keike seem to be doing fine, but from what I understand, the reason a keiki is grown is because the Mother Phal is sick in some way. Is that correct? If so, I'm not going to be shocked if she has problems sometime in the future.

By the way, I felt like I should give lil keike baby a more formal name, so I named her Keiki Anna Noid. lol (Yes, I said "SHE".....us females gotta stick together, you know. )

Anyway, I have a pic attached. Guess that's it for now.
Thanks,
Vicki

Originally Posted by VickiC

Hi everyone,
I was shopping today (in Decatur, Al) and decided to stop by a greenhouse nearby to see if by chance they had some orchid-growing supplies. I felt sure they didn't but I decided to check it out to be positive. They had very few orchid supplies (basically almost none, in fact), as I assumed.....but, they told me that they DID have some orchids. I had definitely not planned to buy one there (or anywhere today, for that matter), but I decided to take a look anyway (sort of like window-shopping, in a way lol ). They did indeed have orchids for sale.....6 to be exact. lol They looked so pitiful although all of them had some obvious established roots...and new growth, also. I told them about the bad experience I had there sometime back.....that I bought a $35 orchid from them but found out when I got home and un-potted it that it had only 3 roots.....all mushy and rotted .....as well as 1 slug enclosed . By the way, I'm still trying to re-root that Phal right now. The manager apologized to me and told me to pick out 1 of any of the 6 orchids for free. I thought "better to go home with a free (but sick) orchid than go home with no free orchid at all" lol Bottom line: I picked 1 out, came home, un-potted it and found that it had several roots, but most of them were rotted....plus there was some little creature that looked somewhat like a silverfish living there, as well. I cleaned it up, as best I knew how and am hoping that I can save the orchid with your help, plus there is a keiki, although I have no idea what to do with it. I knew you would know, so I really would appreciate it if you will clue me in. I'm attaching a couple of pics for you to take a look at, if you don't mind. Sorry for the loooong post, but I felt the need to explain the situation.
Vicki

[Becca]

I will keep my fingers crossed that all continues to go well! Good luck!

[hollylee]

Thats a big pot for that little baby! Maybe she might want something a little more compact?

Just a thought

They look great. Yay for free chids!

[dgenovese1]

Originally Posted by VickiC

...Mom and baby keike seem to be doing fine, but from what I understand, the reason a keiki is grown is because the Mother Phal is sick in some way. Is that correct? If so, I'm not going to be shocked if she has problems sometime in the future.

Hi Vicki,

While it is true that chids sometimes form keikis when they are "in trouble", they also form keikis just as a form of reproduction. In this case, it appears that your moma plant is very healthy, and she was just propagating a new baby. At least that's the way I see it.

[Bird Song Farm]

They look good Vicki. As David said, a plant will produce a keiki just as a form of reproduction. So all looks well for momma.
I think I might take Holly's suggestion and go a bit smaller for Anna Noid, she will grow faster and be happier if she is root bound and it's going to take awhile in that size pot........

AL