NOID Phal keiki propagation

[Yéri]

Right, so I've had this Phal on the brink of surviving for a few weeks (maybe even months). It basicly lost most of its leaves except for the new one that's actually just stopped growing.
It had 2 keikis on the flower stem, but they stopped growing after a while. Other plants required more attention (yes, another NOID Phal mistreated) and I just left it to see how it went.

A few weeks ago though, the stem started producing keikis on as good as every node, giving me a total of 6 keikis growing slowly.
Now I doubt the plant has any kind of energy left to get these to grow well.

In order to save the keikis, would the method of cutting up 3 cm below and above the nodes and placing those on potting soil (or is it just peat?) work?

And is there any chance the plant would recover if I were to remove the energy-draining keikis/flower stem?


Pics will follow if necessary, I'm at work atm and well...I needed a break

Yéri~

[Discus]

Yéri - as long as the keikis have roots, you should be OK to pot them up independently; the general rule of thumb I've read says you want "at least" 2 inches (~5cm) of root per keiki before it has any real chance of getting enough moisture from being potted up independently (this can be e.g. one long root or two shorter roots).

Good luck!

[Yéri]

Originally Posted by Discus

Yéri - as long as the keikis have roots, you should be OK to pot them up independently; the general rule of thumb I've read says you want "at least" 2 inches (~5cm) of root per keiki before it has any real chance of getting enough moisture from being potted up independently (this can be e.g. one long root or two shorter roots).

Good luck!

Damn I forgot to take a pic and now I'm at work again...the keikis are only coming out, they're like 5mm in average and have no roots whatsoever as you can imagine!
That's why I was wondering if the technique I mentionned would work, otherwhise I would've potted them already for sure.

Here's a link Lotte & Thomas Orchids

I think I'll just have to find out and either ruin the whole lot or end up with 5 more phals (oh god where am I going to put those...)

Thanks for the reply

Yéri~

[Discus]

I've heard of "stem propagation" of phals, but I suspect they mericlone from the dormant bud(s) on the stem - the things that are turning into keikis on your plant. However, unlike many plants, rooting orchids (particularly monopodials like phals) can be quite hard - they don't seem to respond to things like hormone rooting powder much, and that flower stem won't "suck up" any water for the developing keiki. (This is why people come up with extreme strategies like sphag 'n bag to wait until the plant pushes out a new root - it's basically ICU for a very sick plant).

You'll have to wait until the keikis have grown and pushed out roots before you cut them off and disinfect the cut ends (cinnamon powder, sulphur powder or whatever you have that is suitable).

More of the same plant? That's a present for another person. Just imagine if you give a flowering phal you've grown from a keiki to someone and say "I grew this myself"...

I just had a look at your link, and it seems some people have been successful with this - it *may* work if you keep the keikis damp enough, but you'll have more "luck", I suspect, with letting the keikis grow roots on the mother plant.

[Yéri]

Well that's what I've been doing so far, just letting everything grow and see how it goes. Don't know why I wanted to change methods, probably just to have an excuse to be busy with my orchids :P

More of the same plant? That's a present for another person. Just imagine if you give a flowering phal you've grown from a keiki to someone and say "I grew this myself"...

Yeah I know the feeling, that's why I started growing seedlings. The pleasure of finally getting your plant to bloom after x years is something I'm really looking out for.

Thank you again for the info, the technique seemed a bit like a mircale solution, but I'll stick with maintainig the plant healthy and hope for the best

[Orquiadicto]

Good luck and keep us posted, please.