When to remove keikis and repot?

[kipcher]

I have one orchid that has a few keikis (just learned that word today!!) They are all starting to bloom right now. I would like to remove them and put them in their own pot since my original orchid is way to big already! When is the best time to do that? I know you are supposed to wait until after the bloom is gone to repot, but I've never had one with keikis on it!

[Zoi2]

Hello and welcome to the OB.
Where are your keikeis--on the base of the mother plant or on the flower spike? Do they have roots?
Joann

[kipcher]

Hi Joann,
Thank you! I'm glad I found this website!!

They are on the flower spike and yes they have roots. There are 2 of them each on a seperate spike.

[Lana]

Kipcher, it would be great if you could post a picture of your plant. First, it would show how big the roots are on your keikis, and second, I just love to see pictures of big happy plants with babies, especially blooming ones

[trdyl]

Hello an welcome to OB!

Pictures would be great to see and easier to help answer your questions.

[camille1585]

Me too, I'd love to see a pic of the plant!

As to removing keikis, you generally want to wait until the plant has a few longish roots. The sort of rule of thumb that a lot of people go by is that the keiki needs at least 3 inches total root length. (Be that one 3 inch root or three 1 inch roots). I usually leave mine to grow a bit longer though.

[kipcher]

Here is the picture. Not sure if I'm doing this correctly.

[camille1585]

Oh wow!! Are those budded/blooming spikes coming off the keikis? That's cool. If the spikes are not part of the keikis, then they have more than enough roots to be potted up. Otherwise I would say to leave them on until they're done blooming.

[Daethen]

I'm with Camille. They look plenty ready to be on their own. Especially since they appear to be blooming on their own. Congrats!!!!

[Ray]

They are definitely ready to go solo, but I would not separate them while blooming.

I suggest you gently bend over the mother spikes, and pot up each keiki individually, while still attached. Once they have begun to grow new roots and leaves, then snip 'em off and away they go with no transplant stress whatsoever.