Dendrobium kingianum keikis - what to do

[Ashleyma23]

Originally Posted by astrid

Hey all!

My den kingianum threw me two keikis that have grown rather quickly.

I am just wondering at what point I should remove them and pot them separately. Should they be a certain minimum height (example: at least half as tall as the canes)? Should they have a minimum number of roots (example: at least 5 roots or at least an inch long)? Should they have grown leaves first?

And then I wanted to ask a few more questions.
How soon will they flower? Are they technically already flowering size because they came from a mature plant?

Would you pot them in sphagnum moss, or a regular potting mix?

Thanks, everyone!

I am not familiar but that is wonderful ! I am interested in buying one of these.

I hope others can chime in!

[astrid]

Originally Posted by Ashleyma23

I am not familiar but that is wonderful ! I am interested in buying one of these.

I hope others can chime in!

They're wonderful, but can be difficult to rebloom if you don't offer them cold enough nighttime temperatures during winter. Even when they're out of bloom, they look really nice, though!

---------- Post added at 06:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:23 PM ----------

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

I mostly leave mine on the parent. If you wish to remove them, the same recommendation of a minimum of 3 inches of roots as for other orchid keikis applies. They can bloom while very small on the parent. As with all keikis, the 3 inches of roots is a minimum - more roots, bigger keikis stand the best chance. If I do want to remove any to share, I take ones with more than one year's growth.

I have potted mine in sphag or fine fir bark mix.

Thanks! That's just the advice I was looking for!

Hah, on my den unicum, I had a keiki self-remove from the mother plant and it made a 3 inch root in the last month or so. It was really surprising because the keiki itself is only about 2cm long.