Keiki question from kiki

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Dorothy

I posted photos of my phal with a keiki on it's spike and if you look at the plant's base, you'll notice a basal keiki (which is quite large) growing off the mother plant.
Check out this thread - http://www.orchidboard.com/community...iki-spike.html

You are soooo right, Dot. I forgot about that post or I would have referenced it

[camille1585]

I posted a picture of mine as well, somewhere on OB not long ago, but I can't remember what thread. So here's another picture of my slightly odd 4 month old keiki. I'm not complaining though since the flowers were a really pleasant surprise!

[kiki-do]

Hi Camille, That is such a unique thing to me. I have yet to see or have a keiki on a phal for one thing, then to see the keiki actually flowering! Wow! These pics by you and Dorothy just blow me away.
Question for Dorothy.
I have that exact same B. K. phal. and this time that it is opening, it is not opening all the way. Have you ever had that happen to yours? And if so, do you know why it's doing that? It was blossomed when I bought it and they were perfect. This is it's second time blossoming and it's not perfect at all. Thanks, kiki

[Dorothy]

My Phal B.K. Melon, originally had been blooming when I purchased it .. it's flowers held out for quite a while but the smaller buds began to blast. The phal recovered from the change of environment to give me a second set of buds and bloomed from the same spike within the same season. The blooms were not as big as the original batch that bloomed when I received it. But they all opened. I can only guess that it may have been too long between watering or not enough fertilization during it's active cycle.
Hopefully someone else could comment on unopen blooms and lend you more insight than I can.

[Ray]

To answer Terri's query early in this thread, slippers are sympodial. The growths are connected with a rhizome, albeit a short one.

[quiltergal]

Thanks Ray! Good to know and file away in the old brain.....if I can find room.

[Dame]

Hi
thank you for the piccies of Keikis.
Did they grow from where a flower had been?

I hope I get Keikis on my plants.

Do they grow on other orchid species or just Phals?

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Dame

Do they grow on other orchid species or just Phals?

Not just Phals. For one other, there is Epidendrum ellipticum: This one was potted up a couple months ago and has become a new plantlet. The keiki appeared on one of the flower spikes after months of blooms.

[newflasker]

After blooming, 2 more small plants develop. They are look like keikis not new bulbs to me but not sure. Need your expertise.

[Ross]

Those are natural growths. Not Keikis. They will mature (given proper care) to be mature growths that bloom as per the plant that is the parent. This is totally natural for Brassias, Oncidiums, Brassavolas, Cats, Laelias, etc.