Phal producing continuous keikis?

[ajeatoo]

Hi All,

This is my first post here, so will do my best to get all the info correct.

First off, I'm a newbie to orchids. Have loved them for years and have had them for years but only been able to get them to re-bloom a second time on tme same spike.

Two years ago I purchased Dtps Happy Cat "Hello Kitty" Phal from Van Dusen Gardens annual plant sale. I didn't write the dates down when it finished flowering but I purchased in April and it flowered for months with a second flowering on the same spike. I left the spike after that to see what it would do and it ended up producing a keiki. I left the keiki on the sike until it had 3 roots which were 4" long, and two nice 5" long leaves.

I have since repotted the mother phal into a new pot along with new potting meduim from repotme.com (moss, bark, cork, plus more all in the mix) and also cut the keiki off the spike and repotted it in the same pot at the mother phal to give it support. I did this Jan 15th so just over 1 month ago.

I have been watering just as the medium has almost dried out, and fertilize with each watering (ends up being about once per week).

The mother plant seems happy, it is putting out a new leaf which is 2 1/2" long and also a new root with is almost 2" long. The baby plant also seems happy, nice strong leaves, I haven't noticed any roots but I am assuming it is just getting settled.

Now... I noticed two days ago that the mother plant is yet again growing a keiki on the spike! I did'nt cut that spike all the way back when I cut off the first keiki. I thought I'd see what it did.

Is this normal for phals to keep growing keikis? Should I just let this one stay on momma since it seems happier with a keiki on it? I would love to get it to grow a new bloom spike but it has yet to do that.

I will also mention I moved the plant to a new room with lower temps over night, it is sitting in my bathroom window which is south east, it gets sun for several hours during the day and since the window has blinds I can control the sunlight when it is too hot/strong.

Any info you can provide would be great. I want to make sure I keep this phal happy!

Thanks!

[ajeatoo]

Btw I posted this in the reproduction forum as well as I figured it was what my topic was about. Please feel free to delete if needed. I just wasn't sure which forum would be more appropriate.

[katrina]

It's not at all unusual for some phals to do what you are describing. I don't know the background of your particular phal but some will produce new growths (keikis) every year. And when some get large they can produce multiple new growths every year.

I know some people believe that keikis automatically means the plant is in distress...but that's not always the case. It's just what some do and some are so gung ho about making keikis that if you remove them...they will just make more.

Your plant looks really healthy so I'd just chalk it up to it doing it's thing. Personally, I'd leave the keikis...I think it looks great when a phal has multiple growths...especially when they are all blooming.

[tucker85]

I agree with Katrina, some phals, just by their nature, have a tendency to produce keikis. I've left keikis on flower stems for up to two years, as long as the stem continues to stay green.

[ajeatoo]

Ok so maybe this is a silly question but should I expect to see a spike possibly sometime this spring then? I have read that most phals don't send out a spike while they are growing a new leaf, and currently this phal is growing a new leaf, new root and a new keiki! Can phals grow keiki's and a new spike at the same time or would it wait until the keiki is larger?

[katrina]

Phals can and do produce spikes, roots and leaves all at the same time. Some do anyway. I know some people seem to think they can only do one thing at a time but that's a myth. The growth and blooming habit will vary depending on the species involved and many of the Summer bloomers will do all three things simultaneously.

As to when your phal keikis might produce spikes...only time will tell. Some do it at a rather young age whereas others take longer to mature before they spike.

[ajeatoo]

So with my orchid currently in a growth period (leaf, roots, keiki) should I be feeding with a specific type of fertilizer? I did a search on fertilizers on this site, was sifting through the responses but hadn't come across one yet which deals with what type of fertilizer to feed when.

[My Green Pets]

I'll add another vote that your plant looks healthy. The light purplish tinge means it is receiving the max amount of light it can handle. The keikis could be growing because of this, although that's a total guess on my part.

Many phals bloom in autumn and winter when daytime temperatures are lower. You could perhaps decrease the sun a bit and keep the plant cooler. But if you do nothing and continue as you were, you will probably still get flowers within a year. I've seen plants produce new spikes while the old spikes have keikis, and the keikis produce their own spikes as well, resulting in a pretty impressive display.

Good luck and whatever you decide to do, update this thread periodically because I for one would like to see what becomes of it

[My Green Pets]

As far as the fertilizer goes, I would say whatever you're using is fine, there's not really a lot of consensus on the 'bloom booster' formulas out there. Some growers have even suggested that a decrease in ferts might even spur the plant to bloom. Go forth and experiment

[Paul]

As many others have said, some plants are more likely to keiki than others. Phal. equestris and its hybrids, for example, tend to keiki profusely.