Keiki attached to a yellow stem.. should I repot the baby?

[dzchaser]

So the last time I posted here, we had elected to wait until our keikis had bloomed to repot them... shortly after we had removed the baby plants, we had two new ones grow in their place. Thanks to everyone here we have two new plants to take care of at home

Well, now we have two blooming Keiki plants attached to momma plant, but one of the parent stalks is turning yellow... (see below for the attached photos on what they look like...)

We are not sure what to do! Should we repot the keiki before the yellowing reaches it, or wait until the parent stalk turns yellow completely before we detach it? Or should we just wait for the keiki to stop flowering before we replant? We're afraid that the yellowing will impact the new plant that is flowering!

Thanks in advance for any feedback that you can provide!!

[Vanda lover]

It looks like the keiki is well rooted, so you should pot it. I potted one with much shorter roots than that and it is doing very well.

[Wynn Dee13]

I agree. The keiki has enough roots to live on its own. Phals usually do fine being repotted in bloom. The spike the keiki is attached to is done so that's why it's turning yellow. I think people use a general guide of three roots that are three inches long before potting the keiki. Both your keikis have way more roots than that so you can remove both of them. Are you using keiki paste or is your Phal just putting out keikis on its own?

[CTB]

They look ready to be on their own, time to pot them up.

[RosieC]

I'll add my vote for pot them up. The roots look good and that yellowed spike won't be supplying any nutrients to the keiki now.

I don't think the yellow reaching the keiki would harm it, I think it's just the spike dying back, however now it's not doing anything for the keiki I think getting the roots adjusted to the pot is better sooner rather than later.

[Vanda lover]

When I potted my keiki, I soaked the roots in water first for a few hours first. It liked that.

[dzchaser]

Many thanks to all for the feedback. We have since repotted our keiki and she is flourishing in her new pot. The hubby and I don't use any keiki-paste; that's actually the first time I've ever heard of such a thing. We just keep our plants well watered (once the top layer of moss is dry, we water all the pots; we have five now, up from our original two) and expose all plants to filtered sunlight during the day.

Unfortunately, for us, it looks like momma plant isn't doing too well. her leaves have really started to yellow severely, so we fear that the other flowering keiki may need to be removed... is there anything else that we can do to rescue momma plant? We recently gave them all some Schultz Orchid food.

I really appreciate all the feedback to date; please take a look at my photos and let us know what you think is happening!

Thanks again!

[Bill U.]

What is your potting medium for the "momma" plant?

I see that you mention that when the top layer of moss is dry in your plants you water them. If they are potted in entirely moss (usually sphagnum) the top layers can be drying faster than the layers around the root ball of the plant (many times the case). If you are watering every time the top gets dry, you might be over-watering because the root ball may not be drying out enough, which leads to root rot.

Judging by the photos you have provided, it looks like root rot is going on to me... If your plant is potted in a clear inner container, look at the roots and see their condition. If you don't have them in a clear container, I recommend taking the plant out, cut out any roots that are brown, squishy, or rotting with sterile scissors and then repotting into new moss-water less frequently --> normally when the pot gets "light" in weight in comparison to how heavy it is right after watering.

I follow these rules for my phalaenopsis that are potted in sphagnum moss- I tend not to water until 10-14 days go by, and if I am questioning whether or not to water- I wait or stick my finger in the pot down a couple inches to feel how moist the deeper levels of the moss are. Phalaenopsis do not like to dry out completely, but they do not like to be constantly wet either.

[Wynn Dee13]

I would check the roots in the pot too. It sounds like you could have root rot. Many Phal hybrids will keiki when they are stressed or think they might die. It is a way to keep living through the keiki. That might explain the keikis and the decline of the main plant. Not every keiki on a Phal means the main plant is stressed but in complex Phal hybrids it could be a sign the main plant isn't doing well. Let us know how the roots look. Good luck!

[dzchaser]

Thanks for the quick response! We pulled our plant out and trimmed all the rotting root areas... and will be purchasing some new moss tomorrow to pot the still-unaffected keiki and momma plant... fingers crossed, we are hoping that the root rot has not spread further and she will survive this ordeal.

Hubby is super upset; he's the one on water duty, and has promised to not water our poor orchids as often.

If it were not for this forum, I really have no idea what we'd do; will post an update on the outcome