Phaleonopsis stalk division ?

[Lspengeman]

Hi Everyone,

I’m new to this forum and have been growing orchids for several years. I have a large white Phaleonopsis that is putting out two small keikis at its base. It has lost most of its bottom leaves so there is a huge space between the plant that also has some upper roots along the stalk and the bottom of the plant with a large root structure and the two brand new keikis which do not yet have there own root system. What to do? It is too tall to plant in a pot so I have it mounted on cork. But I was wondering if I could cut the stalk in half and plant the upper plant with the roots that have come out close to the leaves and leave the other roots with the keikis until they grow. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Ray]

If the secondary growths are sharing the root system, they cannot be divided, so are properly called "basal growths" to distinguish them from a "keiki" growing on an inflorescence.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

It's hard to advise without a photo. Many people need to make 5 posts before posting photos. Just respond to other posts.

[tmoney]

preface....i/we are not professionals and have only attempted what you describe one time. it failed, both top and bottom died. both even had a full set of roots each and we were conscious about keeping the cut dry and avoiding rot.

not to say it cant work, as i have read many things which claim it did. but i dunno. if this is a special plant to you in some way personally i would just let it be. if you don't really care about it then chop it up and make sure you post pics of the process and outcomes!!

[Dimples]

Take a look partway down the page on this AOS article, at the tail end of the Potting Media section and the Repotting section. The situation described in the article isn't an exact match to yours, but I think the info would apply to your plant if I'm imagining it correctly based on your description.

I haven't done what you're thinking about doing because the opportunity has never presented itself and I agree with the others that if this orchid is very special to you, proceed with caution. Otherwise, I'm also someone that enjoys experimenting on plants that no longer bring me joy in their current state. The worst case is the plant goes into the compost pile and you learn something from it.