Separating keikis

[Princerobby]

I noticed a keiki growing on one of my phals and I'm super excited about it.

I'm just curious though, do I have to separate the keiki from the mother plant? What would happen if I left it on? This question came to my head because in nature there's no one to come separate keikis from the mother plants so I was just wondering what happens to home grown orchids since most likely our plants aren't hanging on a tree.

FYI: The keiki is growing on a flower spike but my question applies to both aerial keikis and basal keikis.

[Dollythehun]

Remove the keiki when it has about 3" roots. The basal keiki should stay. It may never produce roots but a multi crowned plant. I asked the same question recently and this was the answer.

[camille1585]

For basal keikis, even if they do produce roots, removing them is generally next to impossible without damaging one of the two plants.

As to aerial keikis, they are removed because they sap evergy from the plant, and we want strong vigrous plants that will produce spikes for us each year. Also, as many of us grow phals indoors and in pots, leaving keikis just isn't practical, especially once the kekis start blooming as well. The plant becomes too top heavy and will take up a massive amount of space, which can make it difficult to fit on a windowsill or under lights.

The exceptions are for species that naturally are natural keiki machines. Many people leaves keikis on phal equestris. It's a small plant, the keikis flower very early and it canmake a nice display. But eventually though, those keikis are removed too (I tried not to, but at some point the spike carrying the keiki will dry out.)

In nature I assume that keikis will naturally detach at some point. The are likely to root on the mother's tree, and the spike will eventually rot. One exception is Phal pulchra, which is a prolific keiki machine, and in the wild it forms dense mats. In cultivation this one does better mounted since it can do its keiki matting habit.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I think of the 2types of keikis differently. Basal keikis are essentially the plant making a branch. You generally want to leave healthy branches on a plant. The stem keiki is the plant trying to reproduce vegetatively. The old flower stem extends the keiki some distance from "Mom" so the 2 plants are not competing for space, sunlight, etc.

[greenpassion]

In the past I've had spike Keikes that I discovered were the mother's distress signal 😟, I managed to save both mom and baby each time after I separated them. When I discovered the basal keiki recently, I was worried the same thing was going on, but learned I was wrong ☺. The phal that has the ever growing basal keiki has 2 spikes now as well.

[rbarata]

Usually I leave them alone (the stem keikis, the basal should stay) until the spike gets dry. I believe they're somewhat independent from the plant mother. If not they also contribute to the mother and vice-versa because they have roots, leaves, everything the mother has.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Usually I leave them alone (the stem keikis, the basal should stay) until the spike gets dry. I believe they're somewhat independent from the plant mother. If not they also contribute to the mother and vice-versa because they have roots, leaves, everything the mother has.

How on earth do you pot up the keiki if you wait that long to remove it? Do you mount them? At some point the roots get much too long to be able to fit into a pot, so I try not to wait that long before separating the keiki.

[jkofferdahl]

Basal keikis can actually eventually be separated if you so desire. As Phals grow they leave behind the old stem as the leaves drop with natural growth. Eventually they reach a point where the stems beneath the leaves can be clipped apart, just as you would remove the old stem of a Phal when repotting it.

[Princerobby]

Thanks for the feedback, friends.

I have a follow-up question regarding the keiki growing on my phal.

Should I move it away from the window and out of the sun? There's a few flowers on it and I usually move them out of the direct sunlight when in bloom but I'm assuming the plant might need more sunlight to feed the keiki but I also have no clue how to nurture a growing keiki.

It's like my first child haha

[greenpassion]

Yeah. This might be a question for the experts. I'm sure they'll chime in.