Tiny Dendrobium keiki-Help with a root mystery

[GoldStar135]

Small update-
The end of the cane farthest from the keiki has begun to go yellow and soft. I'm going with the assumption that this is just depletion of the cane and not rot-it's a brightish yellow, not a dark brownish yellow color. Nothing has changed much with the keiki itself.

[Sharon's Sheepdogs]

Goldstar, remove the keiki from the cane. Your pot looks good but your sphagnum looks dark & really wet. What type of sphagnum are you using? Are you providing air movement around the orchid?

[bil]

Originally Posted by Sharon's Sheepdogs

Goldstar, remove the keiki from the cane. Your pot looks good but your sphagnum looks dark & really wet. What type of sphagnum are you using? Are you providing air movement around the orchid?

I realise that I can't speak for every cane one every dendrobium, but this I can say.

Every keiki I have removed from a cane has been very slow in startng to grow, and many of them hadn't grown even a year later.
Those that I left on the cane have all taken off very fast and well.
I really wouldn't suggest that the keiki is taken off the cane.

[Sharon's Sheepdogs]

My experience with keikis involves phals so if bil finds it more successful to leave the den keikis on the cane, then leave it. My only concern is that the cane may rot which could lead to the death of the keiki. I have successfully grown orchids with New Zealand Sphag but some members find sphag difficult to grow in. I provide a lot of air movement around my orchids which causes the sphagnum to dry quickly. The sphagnum in the photos of Goldstar's most recent post concerns me because it is very dark & extremely wet looking. I believe there is fine bark mixed in with the sphag. Concerned the type of sphagnum being used or lack of air movement might be causing the keiki roots to yellow which could eventually lead to their death. Perhaps Goldstar should remove the sphagnum as his growing conditions might not be conducive to orchid growing using this type of media.

[GoldStar135]

Originally Posted by Sharon's Sheepdogs

Goldstar, remove the keiki from the cane. Your pot looks good but your sphagnum looks dark & really wet. What type of sphagnum are you using? Are you providing air movement around the orchid?

Sorry about the delayed response-
The sphag I'm using is this brand-

I'm not sure if this is considered a high quality brand -this was before I realized I could buy higher quality moss from Amazon.

It does look dark and wet immediately after spraying, but the next day it is already more or less dry/slightly damp. I potted the keiki in pure small bark (perlite + charcoal as well) and I only left a few small strands of sphag on top. There is a vent a few feet above the windowsill where the keiki is-when the air conditioning/heating is turned on there is a very slight breeze.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Sharon's Sheepdogs

My experience with keikis involves phals so if bil finds it more successful to leave the den keikis on the cane, then leave it. My only concern is that the cane may rot which could lead to the death of the keiki. I have successfully grown orchids with New Zealand Sphag but some members find sphag difficult to grow in. I provide a lot of air movement around my orchids which causes the sphagnum to dry quickly. The sphagnum in the photos of Goldstar's most recent post concerns me because it is very dark & extremely wet looking. I believe there is fine bark mixed in with the sphag. Concerned the type of sphagnum being used or lack of air movement might be causing the keiki roots to yellow which could eventually lead to their death. Perhaps Goldstar should remove the sphagnum as his growing conditions might not be conducive to orchid growing using this type of media.

Well, I have never grown a phal keiki, so I would bow to your experience there.
I have played about with quite a few Den keikis tho, and the advice about leaving the keiki on the cane has been true for every one of them. They seem to go into shock when cut off the cane, and seldom if ever get over it,

[GoldStar135]

Update--
Good news! There's two new roots growing
There also appears to be a new growth on the side-it seems too big to be a root. What do you all think?
Flash-

No flash-

[fishmom]

Yay! Congratulations! Your doin' it RIGHT!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yes, good job, do keep it up, but it is too soon to be counting chickens with regards to a new basal growth. Wait. Anything can happen to it, especially at this stage.

The roots on the other hand are something to be more hopeful for. Although, I can say a similar thing with these as well. The good thing is that the roots are further along and are likely to grow quickly with good care.

This has still got a long ways to go.

[Sharon's Sheepdogs]

Great news! You're doing something right!