Getting a phal. to keiki

[OrchidLoverSA]

So the unthinkable has happened: My favorite phal. has succumbed to crown rot after a year-long struggle...

So my question is, what is a natural way to get a phal. to produce keikis? I say "natural" because there is no way I can easily get keiki paste.

The plant still has a huge, healthy root system, at least 6 healthy turgid leaves and 2 emerging flower spikes... And then a gaping hole in the middle where the crown is supposed to be. Should I leave the spikes on and peel the bracts (is that the right word?) back off the nodes to encourage keikis, or should I cut them off and force the plant to spend its energy on basal keikis? The spikes are still short, about 1 cm each.

Lastly, should I nurture the plant as if it is my first born child (e.g. go on as normal ) or should I stop watering and leave it in the dark to stress it into giving me keikis?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I really don't want to lose this one. Its a peloric noid, it that helps at all.

Thanks

[sweetjblue]

If your plant has been suffering from crown rot for a year your two emerging flower spikes may be basal keikis unless they have developed enough that you know for sure that their not. You may want to wait awhile before you cut a spike off just to be sure as keikis often look like spikes at first. 1cm isn't very big.
If they are indeed flower spikes I would opt for cutting them off as you don't want the plant to expend unnessary energy on flowers.
Treat your plant as you normally would, no need to baby it. If it still has a healthy root system you should end up with some keikis.

Judi