Bunch of keikis
 

Hi,
Thank you for reading my post. I am hoping that someone can help me save a group of keikis on a phal. Quick background :
The phal was given to my sister by the hospital during her cancer treatment. Unfortunately we lost her a couple of years ago and as the plant was very special to me and my mum I applied keiki paste when the plant finished flowering in the hope that we could each have a plant. The phal itself wasn't in great shape and showed signs of sunburn and had a broken leaf. It subsequently began developing what I thought was a keiki but which turned out to be a group of five or six which are like conjoined twins.
The mother plant has struggled to recover and to grow the keikis and unfortunately, as the temperature fell this winter, it has started growing a new spike. The spike with the keikis is now dying off and I have no idea what to do.
Should I leave them on the dying spike or cut them off as a group and try to grow them until they are big enough to separate? I'm not a complete orchid novice but not an expert either so any help would be appreciated. I've attached a few pics to show the current state of the plant.
Thanks in advance

That plant looks to be in very good shape. What leads you to think it is sick?

If the stem dies down to the keiki that is no issue. If it dies below the keikis then clip it off and rest those babies in a bed of gently moist sphag but they are looking strong.

I would not separate the group of keikis from one another

I am very sorry about your loss and understand the connection to people through plants. I think you will be able to maintain this plant

Thanks
 

Thanks for the reply. The mother plant had only a couple of roots when I brought it back to my house. It was dehydrating a little so I repotted it into 'clay pebbles' and put it into an old vivarium that used to house a gecko. I increased the humidity and worked hard to keep it hydrated. I have not seen any new roots on appear in the pot over the last eight months and this is why I'm a bit concerned about the mother plant.
Do you think I should cut off the new flower spike?

Thanks again

Both the mother plant and keikis look good to me too. I agree that it doesn’t look like the keikis can be separated from one another, but they have well developed roots and could be potted up as a clump. You could even try rigging something to pot them in while leaving them attached to the mother plant so that they’re well established before you sever the connection.

I’d let the mother plant go ahead and flower. I haven’t had any Phalaenopsis bloom themselves to death. If they’re not healthy enough to support flowers mine blast the buds. If they do start producing a bud blasting it and then producing another bud and blasting it and so on, I will cut the spike at that point. Usually, however, Phalaenopsis are master multitaskers: producing new leaves, flowers, and roots simultaneously without missing a beat.