Basal Keiki

[jefft861]

Hello, I'm brand new here looking for some help
I received a orchid in the mail as a gift, this was during cold weather, of course it was somewhat stressed. The flowers died immediately, The crown fell off a few weeks later. Now a 'basal keiki' has sprouted just above the soil level. Now what do I do? Should I cut the rest of the plant off just leaving the sprout?

[jefft861]

Maybe I should post this on a different forum?

[jtrmd]

leave it be till the keiki has a root system of its own.

[jefft861]

Thank you for the reply.
Once it has a root then remove it from the existing plant?

[jtrmd]

Originally Posted by jefft861

Thank you for the reply.
Once it has a root then remove it from the existing plant?

yes

[Roberta]

The "basal keiki" is actually a "basal growth" that shares a root system with the mother plant. Don't cut it off, you will likely kill both. Let it grow. This is one of the ways that monopodial orchids such as Phalaenopsis propagate themselves. They'll do this in response to losing the "crown" (the main growth point) or sometimes just because the plant is getting tall. Let it do its thing, eventually, if it thrives, it can bloom from that point. It's trying to live...

(A true keiki that grows from an old flower spike can be removed once the roots are 3 inches or so. This is different, think of it more like an arm or leg... not capable of independent existence so don't amputate)

[jefft861]

Hello
Could you please tell me what will happen with this.
It is growing quite rapidly and the leaves are very far apart

[jefft861]

Thank you very much Roberta

[jtrmd]

You can leave it connected and let it do its thing. I am tight on space these days and remove mine after they get big enough.

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