Keiki Question

[aliceinwl]

I read somewhere that if you cut a spent green Phalaenopsis spike and put it in water it will sometimes throw a keiki. I started doing this with any green spikes I've decided to cut. So far, most have gradually died, but a few are still green.

I've had some sitting in water since around May on my front porch. I peaked at them today. One is throwing a keiki. The stem is about 10 inches long, in eight inches of water with the keiki about two inches up from the bottom completely submerged. The keiki is only about an inch long with leaves but no roots. Should I leave it as is or try to put the stem in a shallower container and try to get the keiki out of the water? I haven't really looked at them for months so I have no idea how long it's been there.

[SillyKeiki]

I'd recommend leaving it as it is because it has started to grow that way, and a change in the environment could be detrimental.

Your little keiki is at a little disadvantage as it doesn't have a mother plant to feed from. Place it in bright shade so that it can start photosynthesizing (frick how do I write this word in English) on its own as soon as possible. Your goal right now should be to get the little one to produce roots as soon as possible so that it can start feeding by itself sooner.

If it tries to produce a flower spike (some keikis are very silly and eager to flower), cut it right away. It would drain the little plant when it is more scarce on resources.

When it produces roots, you could try wrapping a few loose sphagnum moss threads around them, sprinkling them regularly with water to promote their growth.

If you must use fertilizer, use it very very very low concentration. A small plant needs very little food.

Good luck with your little keiki! They are the best!

[Puja]

Congrats on succeeding at this btw! I've been trying it for a while, but so far have only gotten new spikes on old stems (they don't seem to have the energy to flower though, they just keep growing longer until they run out of resources).

[SillyKeiki]

Yeah same. I always leave the old spikes on the plant (minus the part where the flowers were) in case I get a keiki but no luck so far! And getting one on a completely severed spike? Low chances!

[fishmom]

I can't back this up scientifically, but it seems in my collection, the species and primary hybrids throw keikis with abandon, much less so if the hybrid is more complex. The farther the plant is from the species, the less likely it is to make keikis.


ETA: I only have a few keiki-making plants, though, so a small sample.

[Puja]

Originally Posted by fishmom

I can't back this up scientifically, but it seems in my collection, the species and primary hybrids throw keikis with abandon, much less so if the hybrid is more complex. The farther the plant is from the species, the less likely it is to make keikis.


ETA: I only have a few keiki-making plants, though, so a small sample.

Interesting theory. I assume this remark only applies to phals? I have hybrid dens which make keikis more often than spikes under certain conditions.

Though it would explain why I have only seen a single phalaenopsis keiki over the years, growing only hybrid phals. The one that did appear grew on a severely damaged plant that died shortly after. I have tried growing keikis from cut stems like described in the OP, though with only about 2 inches of water in a sealed vase. This works amazingly well if we're considering cut stems can survive and produce spikes of several inches that are still alive after five months, but as far as keikis go I have not seen a single one. All dormant nodes turned into flower spikes instead.