Help!!! Baby on the way-Keiki + other beginner questions

[Miadunn]

Hello all! I am new to the Orchid World but I have to say that I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts while trying to learn more... I have several questions but wanted to begin with an orchid that I bought last summer. I had previously owned an Orchid but quickly killed it as I did everything wrong and really don't want to kill this one! When I bought this Phal. it had huge white blooms and the woman told me to cut the spike after it was done blooming to try to get it to flower again. I did this but with no results and the steam stayed green all Fall so I just left it. I had read that you should repot in the spring so I was waiting till now to repot the plant. In the meantime, I got very excited when the spike started showing some growth. After researching, I think I have a Keiki forming. My question is should I go ahead and repot the mother plant leaving the Keiki until the roots are 2-3 inches? Or just forget about it... I am unsure if the little nubben is a spike or a root, as I haven't seen a spike "mitten" before.






In addition, when I was at Home Depot yesterday I couldn't resist buying an Orchid as they were so cheap. This one is two plants in one green pot with Spagh as the medium. I plan on making one big order to RePotme.com, in which I am buying new medium, clear pots w/ nets, and Physan 20. Should I wait till the blooms are done to re-pot this one???





One more thing...Any thoughts on Superthrive vs. KLN for my purposes? All the articles were so mixed. I am just doing this on a small scale in my home-not to the humidifiers and grow lights stage....Is it even worth it buy for just my 3 orchids??

Sorry I threw so many questions in there!!! I would be so happy to hear your suggestions on what I need in my Orchid Arsenal for a beginners stage....

[kalanchoe]

First off, welcome to OB! You're gonna love it here.

Also, congrats on your keiki! If it were my plant, I would repot the mother plant as needed and leave the keiki until it had sufficient roots, like you proposed in your question. My thinking is, the mother plant needs to be as healthy as possible to sustain itself and the keiki, and repotting is so important for maintaining healthy roots.

As for your other combo plant, I would gently repot it once you get your new supplies. It may not adversely affect your flowers anyway, and you'll be able to assess and protect their root health. I would separate the plants into two pots.

I'm a windowsill grower too, and I've used both Superthrive and KLN in the past for strengthening stressed or root-poor plants. In contrast, I have a bottle of Physan that I bought "just in case", and I've yet to use it. But just go with whatever you want to try, because there are so many ways to go about growing orchids!

[tucker85]

Welcome to Orchid Board! You have three very pretty phalaenopsis. I agree with the previous post that the first phal should be repotted and the keiki left in place. There's no hurry in removing a keiki. The second two phals, I would say it's up to you. You could leave them for a while and enjoy the flowers. In that case let the plant get pretty dry between waterings since it's in sphagnum. You don't want it wet all the time. Or you can repot and take your chances. Often the flowers will be fine but might not last quite as long as usual. I agree they should be in two seperate pots.

[Miadunn]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I am excited to get my new supplies and get going on my new hobby.

I went ahead and bought some Physan and SuperThrive. I am worried that I may have some bad roots on the original plant I owned but won't know till I get in there. I pulled it out of the pot to kind of judge it knowing my new supplies were on the way and pulled out a little of the Spagh. to let the roots breathe. I have been spraying the roots in the morning before I leave for work so that they have a little moisture.

I noticed that I have a few good roots but some look bad. I plan on trimming the ones that look pretty bad. Am I just looking for brown spots and dead mushy roots? I have heard that soaking the plant in the Physan would help. Can I soak the plant in the Physan and SuperThrive together or is it bad to mix them? Should I do one before the other or maybe soak my medium in the superthrive mixture? What do you think? Thanks in advance for your help!!!

[kalanchoe]

Yeah, you'll want to cut off any dead, mushy roots. Soaking in Physan might help prevent fungal infection of healthy roots, but it won't help any of the already dead ones, so just whack those off. I can't speak to mixing Superthrive and Physan, but hopefully someone else will chime in.

[nenella]

Hi Just my 2 cents worth.... I would repot the mother plant into a new medium or wait until ended flowering..... cutting off mushy roots will actually in my experience 'force' the root to grow a new one off it. You don't need anything 'fancy' except put a bit of cinnamon on the end of the cut root tos terelize it /dry it) . (better to cut into 'live' tissue' than dead. I would leave the keikie on mum until the roots are as long as you already know ..2/3 inches long.
Don't forget to soak the medium you use before repotting.Good luck & keep us posted.

[Miadunn]

Hey guys! A quick update... I repotted my orchids in new pots and treated with the Physan and Superthrive. I trimmed off all the dead mushy roots when I did this. Now, a few weeks later, all of the visable roots are dead-brown and dry looking. The entire outer layer fell away from the stringy insides...The leaves are looking very droopy. I have tried to not water them and wait till they are dried out but the I thought the droopy leaves were a sign that the plant wasn't getting enough water... Any advice? I really don't want to loose my original plant which was healthy looking before this...The keiki has a spike and 2 roots that are healthy. I am thinking that I need to cut the keiki off the mother and cut its spike to give them both a chance. Can any of these be saved?

[Miadunn]

Here are some pictures to get a better idea. Thanks in advance!