Help I think I'm killing my keiki

[Island Girl]

Wow, that kieke got huge! She reminds me of my first phal, the 1st one I got to re-bloom, (my avatar pic), mites killed it last summer, plus a few others.... that orchid had taught me a lot over the years... RIP. And I completely understand about being afraid to repot, as a newbie, I was too. Just learn from any mistakes (you, &/or others make), & try again! This forum is a great place to teach you! Orchids are pretty resilient (they don't wanna die any more than we want them to)... I mean, you saw that one orchid in my other post (w/ the link), it had no roots, what-so-ever, and it survived! There's still hope for you little kieke!

I've never had to do surgery like this before... But, from what I've seen from a couple others having this same problem, & from my own (slightly different) experiences, I'd say you're on the right track, & I think it looks pretty good (from the pics), it looks like there are no more black rotting parts, so the rest is up to the plant. Just keep an eye out, some careful watering, & wait... which is definitely the hardest part

After it's surgery, you'll wanna leave the media dry for a few days, (but keep the humidity up) so it can heal its wound, the cinn. will help too, but this wound should stay/be dry. Remember, don't overwater, (u might even wanna forgo the usual watering technique (i.e. flushing the pot w/ a running faucet/or watering can), & instead, use a spray bottle 2 water with (aim for the roots (that's what ur watering anyways, & not any other part of the plant), & spray them real good, then let dry (however long/many days it takes), & then spray again (when all roots are silvery), this has worked for me, many times.... Tho w/ crown rot-type thing going on, it will be even more important to not get any part of the plant wet (leaves, & esp. the crown & base of crown)... Not at all, if u can help it), & u can underwater just a little, til u get a feel for how much it actually needs (if that makes sense? Basically, it's better to underwater, than to overwater, just don't let it get too desiccated). Just plain water, no fert, but u can add a little KLN/Seaweed extract to encourage root growth (which will in turn, (w/ hormones being applied @ right time- *once every 2 wks*- trust me )- it'll encourage top growth as well). Don't forget that it will need some air movement (gentle, no hurricanes )... Also, I wouldn't go "sphag-n-bag" with this one, b/c it has roots (& the bag would likely cause more rot... I've figured that out the hard way)

EDIT: Geez, I'm so sorry for the novel, I really need to work on shortening my responses Although, I have said everything that I could think of, so you're def. safe after this post, Lol. I truly do hope that all of this helps!! Good Luck! And please update, cuz I'm pulling for this kieke!

[No-Pro-mwa]

I know right, I said it was a strange plant. I should have taken a picture of it before I re potted it sense I lost my other ones. It was strange looking I had to have a stake to hold up the keiki and one to hold up the bloom.

I'm glad to know your plant survived, makes me feel a little better. I just checked mine and it looks the same however I think the blooms are going to go. The oldest one is fading. I guess it's about time but I'm sure it is a reaction from the cutting.

Thanks for pulling for keiki it will need all the help it can get. And I will keep it on the dry side. I do have it sitting on a try but I need to get a new humidifier. It wasn't a problem when we were running the swamp cooler but lately it has been cooler and we haven't had to run it much.

But it is not as dry as it usually is this time of year. We have had thunder storms for about two weeks now so not so bad. I have spray bottles which is how I water them after I pot them. I was told by the gal that I had learned a bit from to water well first them spray them every day for a week and keep them out of much lite for that amount of time. I don't know if that is right or not but that is what I have done with all of them after re potting.

And I don't mind the novel at all look at me and mine.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Ok, so blooms went in a big hurry, not a good sign. The rest of the plant still is the same, the top 2 leaves seem rigid. So I cut the spike so it can all go into the plant.

Hope that was right?

[No-Pro-mwa]

An update: It's not looking good I lost another leaf. I think it is just slowly dieing. Very sad.

On a good note I had a oncidium that has not been doing well.....ok this is my fault I was told to let it dry out and so have finally read it needs to be a bit moist and to never let it dry out.

Goodness do you think this is why I lost all my oncidiums but 2 ??????? Any way I pulled it out of it's pot ..... this was an easy task as it had NO ROOTS go figure. I put it in a pot with spag in the bottom and wrapped spag around it and I also soaked it in KLN. Walla it has a new green root.

Maybe just maybe I will bring it back. I spray it at least twice a day and I am going to mix up some more KLN and give it another shot of that.

Question, does it matter if it is not in much light for this process? Because I have it in my kitchen window which is North East but it is so much easier for me to remember when I see it all the time.

[Island Girl]

Yes, cutting the spike was good. Keeping the orchid in lower light (not dark!) will encourage new roots, remember, that u only want to apply KLN once every two weeks (I know it's hard to wait that long when u have an orchid with no roots, but trust me, it makes all the difference in the world!). Patience, grasshopper

I don't know Oncids very well, but if you're saying that you think you killed all of your other Oncids, and almost this one, by not keeping the media moist enough, and that's why this one has no roots left at all (?), then that is not right... When u don't keep the media moist enough with Oncids, they will keep their roots, and they'll shrivel a little/a lot, but can be brought back to their former state by a good soaking (see my story below, I've experienced this, lol recently!), but the p'bulbs wrinkle too, and they don't always come back to "plump". Now, if they've been too moist (either by overwatering, or decomposed/degraded media), then the roots will die off, turn mushy, or disintegrate, or pretty much disappear... (PB's would shrivel in this case as well)... Does that make sense?

I'm not very good with Oncids, have only tried 3 in total, over the past few years, and I think I've come close to killing my Sharry Baby now.... Well, ok, I left it out of its pot, for a full week w/o any watering (in @ least 90° heat) b/c I went out of town, and wasn't able to finish repotting it before I left, and was planning on coming back w/in two days... Well... it took longer to get back than I had planned... So now, what were once beautiful, plump p'bulbs, are now shriveled ugly PBulbs its ugly, it may not survive its ugliness. Still very much alive tho. :|

Maybe, since I am not the person to ask about Oncids...Trust me! Now Phals, yes... You might wanna start a new thread about the Oncid, cuz u probably shouldn't take my advice for that guy!

Oh, and I'm sorry about your phal, sometimes, even when we do everything we possibly can do, it is still not enough but if you have at least learned a thing or two from this experience, then it wouldn't be a waste at least, that's how I like to look at it! Also, it's a rule that whenever you kill something, you have to pay homage to the orchid gods, and buy more orchids! At least 5, or 10, or.... No excuses! Muahahahah

[Dendy83]

Just keep doing what you're doing with the phal. Blooms dropping fast are absolutely a sign of shock, and you saw that coming. The leaf that died...was it one of the lower ones? If so, then you're ok! Keep the watering schedule the same and let it bounce back, it may take MONTHS.

Edit: silly webpage keeps cutting me off. Let's try again.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Well it was even worse news than I first reported. When I went to check it yesterday after I wrote out this post, which would be the next day after I took off that leaf the crown was hanging over it was all over, it just came right off.

So I will have to get pictures of it now. It still has it's lowest leaf and it also still has the roots so now I wait to see if the keiki will make a keiki.....right oh?????

And thanks I will be patient and wait another week then before I put more KLN on my oncidium. And I will start a thread in that section. I killed 2 big Sharry Baby's that I had gotten free from a friend. Thank goodness I gave the third one to a friend so it is probably still alive as she had lots of orchids.

I still have my twinkle, now that's a tough plant. If you kill them I would suggest one of these this thing comes out with wrinkled leaves because I always under water it but it blooms every year.

[Island Girl]

Hmm, the phal might be pretty bad off. if the roots are good, then keep treating as normal, sometimes they surprise us, and shoot off a basal kieke... Just be really really careful with your watering if it does produce a basal kieke (I think these last ditch attempt basal Kiekes are a little more susceptible to crown rot... Than a healthy Phal's basal kieke). Is this at least a learning experience? They say that you can't be an expert without having killed a hundred orchids (might be a slight exaggeration, lol, but I have heard "a hundred"). I'm not quite there yet.... "yet" being the operative word

...Lol, I killed a Twinkle too but, in my defense, it was one of those that after growing out of it's seedling plug, it was potted on without removing the original media... Which would've been ok if it was spag (I can handle that), but it wasn't, it was that "Oasis" stuff (the green foamy stuff they use for flower arrangements), and that coupled with the thin roots... I couldn't get the "Oasis" off/out, and it died from sopping wet rot & dessication at the same time... Don't ask me how that's possible!

I'm sorry, I just realized I'm turning this into a "what have you killed?" thread

[No-Pro-mwa]

Well it's my thread and I don't care that made me laugh about you killing the twinkle as well. Here I thought the thing was indestructible because I haven't killed it and because it still blooms for me. It isn't going to have as many as last year because I think I was about to however.

I am trying to make an effort to be much better about things.

As fare as my keiki goes it has allot of roots so we will see. I also still have my mothers phal that is in the same boat. It has not changed but the roots are still green and alive. Question.... just how long can they hang on like this....forever??????

As for the killing a 100 goodness I haven't killed near that many haven't had that many, this may mean I will never be an expert oh well I can defiantly count 11 but I would bet there is a couple more.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I have another update. I lost all leaves on this keiki and took care of it all winter.....nothing. I threw out my mothers nothing on it as well. It had sat for I'll bet 2 years......nothing. I finally got tired of my keiki and set it aside and stopped watering it.

I picked it up one day to throw it out....guess what a tiny KEIKI!!!!!!!!!!! I pulled it out of it's pot to see what the roots looked like. They seem to be fine. Put it in a clear pot so I could see the roots. Only problem is it is coming out of the side and now that it has gotten bigger one leaf is resting on the media. I am very careful when I water but I may have to re-pot it again and try turning it to the side.