1 year old phalaenopsis, keiki on dying spike

[Mrs_Gal1981]

Hello! My name is Mayra and I’m a total noob. I got my very first orchid last year as a Valentine’s Day gift and I made it my goal to learn about orchidd as much as possible to make it thrive, and hopefully rebloom. Maybe I will learn enough that I will feel brave to get more orchids in the future. Well, we just made 1 year and she seems to be thriving; the leaves are nice, green and shiny and we have new green roots. She even got a new leave a few months ago. However, after the original flowers she came with died, I left the spikes for a while because I didn’t know better, then I read that I should trim them BUT by then, I noticed one of them had what I thought was new reblooming, so I just cut the other one. Well at the time I realized that it was not really blooming flowers, but another "keiki" plant! So I left it alone. I fertilize the leaves of my plant with a special spray for orchids and water it when I see that it needs it (keep it humid, by a bright window). One day I accidentally moved a piece of furniture and I cut / killed the keiki 😪 but I left the "spike" alone and a few weeks ago I noticed another growth of leaves, a new keiki. My questions are: the spike is brown, not green. But I do not want to cut it because of the keiki. And also yesterday I decided to repot it and change the soil since it’s been a year; I bought a special bag of soil mix for orchids and I took it out, I cut the roots that were dry and I put it in the new soil. What I do not know is if I should just trim that brown spike with the keiki, or if the fact that it’s brown means that it is not going to bloom anymore. I do not know if that is preventing the re-blooming or the growth of new spikes. The whole year that I’ve had it, it has not produced flowers again. I know they may be dormant for a long time but I do not know if I am not helping and the keikis are a sign of stress and sucking energy from the mother plant. But I also feel sorry for cutting the baby plant. Help! 😩

[Orchid Whisperer]

Welcome to Orchidboard.

You are not hurting the plant by leaving that keiki on the spike. If you want the small plant, leave it attached, wait until it gets some roots before separating from the main plant. Try for 3or4 roots that are at least a couple inches long. Then, you can separate the keiki and plant it in it's own small pot.

Good luck!

[rbarata]

Welcome, Mayra.

That spike is not dead. It may eventually die but, even if that happens, the keiki can grow independent from the mother plant using the spike as support.
Do as OW said, leave it until it has roots a couple inches long.

[Laticauda]

That's so exciting! Congratulations on your "baby" (keiki)

[Optimist]

Special "soil?" I am hoping you mean chunky bark mix. Yeah sorry about the keiki. When the spike goes brown that is about it for that spike. It will have another. Sometimes you have to wait a year because it is getting used to your conditions. most phals are first grown in Taiwan, under perfect conditions.

[Mrs_Gal1981]

Wow! Thank you all for all the detailed information! very useful! I have been trying to find info on this but no luck before!
Optimist yes that’s exactly what I meant. I don’t even know the proper terms. By special soil I meant the store bought “Miracle-Gro Orchid potting mix”. The coarse and chunky blend with tree bark.
Since it’s been a year and I read that you can be waiting for reblooming for UP to 6 months, I started to loose hope. I will keep an eye on this keiki and cross my fongers it grows roots soon!
Thank you all!