At What Point do You Throw Keikis Away?

[peeweelovesbooks]

GASP!!! I know!!!


This spring I bought a Dendrobium pierardii in bloom, the thing had 4 canes. Some of the canes had tiny keikis, but I didn't much think about them. I figured they would die off due to stress during the shipping and the plant acclimating to its new environment.

Anyway, the orchid finished blooming, and it has put out 3 new huge growths since then. Additionally, the keikis (3 in all) got as big as the new growths. They had huge root systems also. I discovered when I took them off that they had developed their own mini canes already.

I decided last week to take the keikis off the mother plant, and so instead of having 1 Dendrobium pierardii, now I have 4. I noticed today (while inspecting the mother plant) that the thing has 3 new keikis forming.

Now, while I love the look of the orchid, I don't want my entire collection to be comprised of Dendrobium pierardii. Hence, my question: at what point do you discard keikis?