Keiki on a weak plant

[newbiePhal]

Hi,

I'm brand new to orchids of any sort. But have several Phals in my office.

I've a very large old Phal that was given to me. It previously had a massive cascade of big white blooms. It was beautiful. Then the thing shriveled up and all but died. I found the sub medium roots to be all but completely rotted out.

I followed quite closely instructions I found online in ridding the plant of rot and repotting it. However, the old spike recently formed a Keiki.

It's obviously a weak plant, with only a few air roots, and perhaps 1 (and a half) roots going into the medium. It has large shriveled/shriveling leaves.

Should I cut the spike off thus destroying the Keiki in order to save the plant? I don't know if it's too far gone already... I'd rather have a tiny plant than no plant, given the spectacular blooms this thing produced.

I don't know if the plant will or can sustain itself long enough for the Keiki to form roots enough to cut and repot.

Help!

(see photos)

[Roberta]

I would leave the spent spike with keiki in place... it's green, and the plant can absorb nutrients from it (One reason that orchids are so efficient is that they do recycle old spikes, etc... so don't cut until dry and brown to get the most out of that bit. The photos actually show a plant that looks like it's now happy. The medium looks dry... you might increase the watering frequency, since that open medium (excellent!) will dry out quickly. When you water, let the water run through the pot - that flushes any built-up salts from water or fertilizer, and also (very importantly) pulls nice moist air into the root zone. Remember that the large bark will dry out MUCH faster than sphaghnum . Phals should not go completely dry... what they want is a wet-dry cycle. (In nature, the parent species grow on trees with roots totally exposed, in places like the Philippines where it is very humid, rains nearly every day, then the sun comes out and dries the surface water)

[jkofferdahl]

I agree with Roberta on keeping the keiki. The plant looks OK to me, and you actually have more healthy roots than you described. If the plant isn't strong enough to support the keiki, it'll sluff it.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Plenty of roots to support the main plant and keiki.

You could boost the health of the plant by misting the roots (not the leaves) daily. Not trying to soak the bark, just moisten the roots.

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[PaphMadMan]

Many people have the idea that a keiki weakens the mother plant somehow. It simply isn't true except in the most dire of circumstances, and then the keiki is usually the best hope of something surviving. Here we have a large and fairly healthy plant in no danger at all if given halfway decent care. It is getting new growth that will be forming new leaves. This can only strengthen the plant. It doesn't matter where those leaves are located.

[newbiePhal]

Thanks so much, everyone! I'll follow advice!

I'll keep you all posted on how it goes. Hopefully some blooms when all is well.

[estación seca]

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