Saving my Den Phal :)

[mexicowpants]

Over Christmas and New Year I left the country for 3 weeks. I had a friend agree to come round once a week to douse my plants and, for the ones that needed more regular watering, I followed a friend's advice and put a layer of sphagnum on the top of their pots to help retain their moisture a little longer. This worked really well for the majority of plants. However, one of my Den Phals didn't like it much, and on my return I found it soft and mushy at the base on practically all its canes. I think the poor thing knew it was on its way out, as it was trying to throw out a flower spike in an undoubtedly vain attempt to keep its line going.
Having read that it's possible to grow keikis from cut pieces of Den Nobile canes, I decided to try something similar with my Den Phal. I cut off the (as yet unaffected) top 1/3 of the cane with the beginnings of a spike, and laid it on a bed of sphagnum, which I've been keeping constantly moist over the last couple of months, treating regularly with a weak fertiliser and rooting powder solution. The photos show the results, it now has 5 healthy roots of up to 1cm, and another couple on the way.
The damage you see on one of the roots was caused by something (probably a snail) munching on it last night - it's now been moved to a safer, pest-free location.
I know it still has some way to go before the roots are developed enough to pot it up, but I've been wondering - when the time comes, would it be best to separate the keiki from the cane, or pot it up still attached to part of the cane - I know you can do this with nobiles, but is it OK to do this with Den Phals, too?

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[WhiteRabbit]

Good deal!

[voyager]

... when the time comes, would it be best to separate the keiki from the cane, or pot it up still attached to part of the cane - I know you can do this with nobiles, but is it OK to do this with Den Phals, too?

My experience says NO!
Leave as much of the original PB as you can.
It will provide reserves of water, nutrients and energy for the keiki to use.
It seems to me that they develop much quicker the more of the old PB they have to work with.
I'll go out and get some pics of where I've mounted keikis on and off PBs, then edit them into here.
You'll see the difference.

[mexicowpants]

Thanks voyager, that would be appreciated It doesn't matter that I'm going to pot it, not mount it, then? I was a bit worried about the cane rotting under the substrate and damaging the keiki...

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[voyager]

It got too complicated.
So, I started another thread here:
Why Leave Keikis Attached to the Mother PB?

That should show why I am a firm Born-Again type believer.

---------- Post added at 04:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

Originally Posted by mexicowpants

Thanks voyager, that would be appreciated It doesn't matter that I'm going to pot it, not mount it, then? I was a bit worried about the cane rotting under the substrate and damaging the keiki...

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

I began doing this while growing in AK.
I potted and mounted, and did this with all keikis that I wanted to save and try growing something from.

I began doing it because it just sounded logical to me, like growing from back bulbs.
I would end up with a PB laying across a pot and hanging over the edges, or sticking up into the air as if it were the mother plant.
The fact the PBs were detached from the mother plant never seemed to make any difference, other than the fact that they did not last as long as a PB left attached to the original plant.
They were drained of their stores more quickly.
The keikis grew more like a new growth than a keiki.