hello all
really apreciate all the help yesterday...thanks! today i am wondering about a plant i am trying to heal for a friend. its a purple phal but it started to do poorly a few months ago (i suspect it wasn't getting the proper drainage). anyway, to save itself it started to propagate on it's own on the flower spike. i dusted the new growth's stem with root stimulator, surrounded it with s moss and then wrapped that area with some clear plastic and spritz it a couple times a week and now it is rooting. (pix 1, 2 & 3)
as for the mother plant, i removed it from it's pot and noticed just about every root was rotted. i cleaned it up cutting away the dead stuff and again dusted it up with root stimulator and bagged it with s moss and orchid bark and now it too is rooting. my ? is when and how do u remove the baby from the mother and if u do will the mother do better now that it doesn't have to support the baby? the mother is doing "ok" but i think the baby is sucking the life out of the mother. just seeing if anyone has experience doing this. thanks!
p.s. the last 2 pix are my orchid garden and a hanging den
Last edited by pacomartini; 12-14-2011 at 02:32 PM..
Reason: want to move photos below the text
When you get 3" of roots from the baby it is time to take it off. That can be 3 roots at 1", 1 root at 3" etc. When you take it off, just cut the spike before and after the keiki and pot it up. Yes, the mother plant should start doing better once the spike is removed, she can concentrate all the energy into roots and new leaves.
Joann