Producing a Keiki on a Cut Phal Spike? - Orchid Board

naturalgirl · #1 12-08-2007, 10:24 AM

Good morning all,

I recently had some temperature troubles which led to bud blast on one of my phals. I ended up cutting the spike, and someone on another forum gave me the idea of putting the cut spike in a glass of water to see if it will make a keiki for me from the bit at the very end of the spike, which is still purplish green.

Has anyone here ever tried this? If so, any tips for me? I know this takes quite some time, and for now I'm enjoying the three small flowers I managed to salvage on the spike (they perked up a bit when I put them in water)... I'm willing to be patient

So, should I just keep it in plain water? Or should I maybe add a few drops of fertilizer?

Thanks everyone!

Gin · #2 12-08-2007, 12:20 PM

Hi , I have not had one keiki when in water tried it a couple of times usually the spike rots .
Might try laying it on a bed of Spag. see the post about the Dendrobium cane . Remove the covering from an unflowered node on the cane .
I doubt it would work from the tip of the cane probably to fragile . But might as well try .

naturalgirl · #3 12-09-2007, 09:30 AM

Thanks, Gin. I've been doing some more reading and it seems kind of 'luck of the draw' unless your conditions are ideal. It seems like a fun experiment so I'm going to carry through with it just to see what happens. It would be nice to find some others who have had success with this though

I'll have another spike to cut soon, so maybe I'll try that one on a bed of sphag and see what happens there.
I feel like a kid doing a science fair project-- I almost want to get out a cutesy notepad to write down by observations every day LOL.

Lagoon · #4 12-09-2007, 04:15 PM

I have a phal I got from home depot during the summer, its in deaths door step with 3 blooms. Its looks like there is something active around the crown area, perhaps a basal growth, dunno yet.

Anyhow ... I might try the spike thing too and see if I can a keiki, seems to be a hit & miss to get these tho'

Like to hear more from the both of you about what your success has been

naturalgirl · #5 12-09-2007, 05:33 PM

Lagoon, if you do try this I'd love to hear how it goes for you! I want to log what happens with my spike just as a fun experiment and maybe play around and change some things with future spikes. Not quite sure how I'm going to document it yet... but we'll see! Mine has only been in water for about three days and if my understanding is correct it will take weeks before anything slightly noticeable happens, and months for any significant growth... That's if anything happens at all. LOL

Lagoon · #6 12-10-2007, 06:39 AM

Hehe for sure, it'll be a fun little project for us over the cold winter

Are you able to take some photo's? Keeping notes will help alot too.
I'll try to do both, who knows something may come of it. I'll be cutting my spike off today

Best wishes for your on going project

camille1585 · #7 12-10-2007, 03:32 PM

I know someone on another forum who managed to get a keiki to grow on a cut spike. He put the cut spike in distilled water with some Supethrive last march. He also recut the cut spike underwater, so that there was no air bubble getting into the cut. The water was changed about once a week. By June there was a little nub growing, and by august there were 4 leaves.

I think I'm going to try it too!! My phal finished blooming in september and 1 spike has a keiki while the other is doing nothing. Maybe I'll have fun with that one after xmas break...

naturalgirl · #8 12-10-2007, 06:48 PM

YAY! I'm so excited that others are trying this too! I was advised to not use fertilizer as it would foul the water quicker but I'm still toying with the idea of putting in a few drops... I'm going to change the water weekly anyway. We'll see

chulaorchids · #9 12-13-2007, 03:54 AM

Mmmmm, I don't think you will get a keiki from the spike. But like you mentioned, the flower spike of a phal. does last a good long time. Shave about 1/16 of an inch off the bottom every two or three days to keep it open to the water.

Keikis are produced on phal spikes. Generally at the first or second node on the spike nearest the plant itself. If your main plant crown rots, don't toss it, keep it around with just enough water to keep it alive. The roots will be healthy and it will generally start new plants either around the base of the plant itself, or on the freshest spike that was on the plant. Cut the spike between the 2nd and 3rd node on the flower spike, let dry and wait. By the time it's ready to cut off with a few roots you will have "waited" a couple of years.

You will find this hard to believe, but way back in time, because sowing seed meant scattering seed around the plant in the mossy areas to see if some would germinate, some gardeners used this method to induce more plants of phals. Using a large screwdriver, they would place it down in the center of the plant crown and twist, thereby killing the crown. Within a couple of month several new plants would start around the bottom of the plant. I never had the courage to try this, lol.

katfemme89 · #10 01-30-2008, 04:46 PM

I'm trying the same thing! I bought a huge phal last night, and all but two blooms had fallen off (I buy the phals that are in bad shape cause I feel sorry for them lol) and it was so large that I couldn't fit it in my windowsill... so I cut the spike off one node below the blooming flower (which is probably wrong but oh well lol) and now I'm keeping it in water. I also bought a coconut today and got the milk out of it because i heard that if you put coconut milk on a spike it will encourage a keiki? I'm thinking about putting the coco milk in the spike's water... do you think that will help encourage a keiki?