Dendrobium with two dead keikis and a new growth - Orchid Board

orchidbuds · #1 03-31-2013, 02:17 PM

Hello everyone, I am a newbie who just joined the OB. I have found really helpful stuff from your forums that have helped me to understand growing orchids ever since last year when I brought my first orchid. Now I have about 13!

All of them are phals except for this one Den. I don't know what type it is. I got it last October from a lady who was giving them ( few phals+the den) away to someone who can take care of them since she was afraid she was killing them. It looked dead when I brought it home but after browsing the internet, I realized its just resting. It also had a dead keki and a new one growing from the top of an old cane. It was potted in bark medium that was white with what I thought was water residue. So I repotted it in to a smaller pot with fresh bark medium.
After a few weeks, the keiki dropped it leaves and started looking dead as its mother! I tried misting and I think it kept growing its roots but there were no leaves. At the beginning of February I gave the mother plant a dose of bloom booster and now I see it has a new shoot coming from the bottom! I am so happy cos I was beginning to think I had killed my first orchid (phew!). But the keikis still look dead and I am not sure what to do with them. Should I leave the keikis as they are or should I remove them and plant them? Also, what should I do with the new growth? Will the old canes still bloom? Is there anything else I can do to help them? Any advice will be highly appreciated!!

Generally, I fertilize all my orchids once a week when I water them using a Miracle-gro 12-4-8 liquid plant food and once a month (during spring) with better-gro 11-35-15 bloom booster. They are all kept in a south-east facing window and I mist them every morning and afternoon.