Dendrobium Keiki help

[Surjasama Lahiri]

I have a Dendrobium pierardii for over 5 months and it is producing keikis. I've been doing a bit of research on this matter and have concluded that Keiki extraction can be easy with proper steps taken. This is my first time in dealing with keikis and I would require any assistance possible from fellow members.

My plant produced 3 keikis and only one of them was of the proper size to be extracted. Here are the steps that I've taken in doing the above. (shown in photos)

1) Lightly twisted the keiki, so that it doesn't have it's roots damaged. Before extraction could be begun, the keiki root was drenched with some water to ease the extraction.

2) Created potting medium using peat moss, charcoal and wood bark. Also, since keiki is not able to support itself, it is hoisted against a twig and supported lightly with some roap (NOTE - not tight, only just about keeping it up)

3) Finally, keiki with twig is setup inside pot and watered.

POST EXTRACTION:
keiki given sun (but not lots) and watering once a day/ till dry and requires water again. The roots are in NO WAY inside the potting medium and therefore won't undergo any rotting. The medium helps in keeping the system cool too.
NOTE - no fertilizer administered yet!

So far, it's been doing OK. Any other change/ administration needed? Thanks!!

[Joseia]

I have no advice to offer, but thank you for this thread. I have a Dendrobium growing my first ever keiki, so this thread is very timely for me and I look forward to reading any other comments on your method.

[Surjasama Lahiri]

Thank you. My studies on keiki would help me to conclude that all dendrobium keiki can be extracted using the same methods (just about) with some techniques varying from person to person. Some people like to cut off the part of the patent stalk with a blade (using a anti fungi medium sprayed on the blade). Others prefer to keep a part of the patent stalk when extracting the keiki. Some others also like to plant the keiki along with the mother plant so that it gets the same growing conditions as the mother, others like to plant them solo.

So it's totally up to you how you want to go about it.

[Plodde]

You might be giving your pierardii too much water during it's dry winter rest/cool down if your getting multiple keikis ( so I hear) I bought 2 from Andy's a couple months ago and I have one hanging outside ( I live in San Francisco, that I spray once in a while). I have the other one in my terrarium, that's a lot more humid and warm ( trying an experiment to see which environment they prefer) and then I also removed a small bare cane ( no leaves) and mounted it on a very thin small clay pot. This one I leave filled with water and it's already starting to produce a keiki while my other two mounted pierardii's are just starting to loose their leaves.

[emg53]

Since dendrobiums like to be root bound I would put it in a smaller pot.