First Phal...to keiki or not to keiki??

[sat2280]

I was giving my first Phal as a gift about 18 months ago and fell in love with it. I was tempted to try my hand at getting it to rebloom and low and behold a few months ago (most likely by shear luck) it happened. My success has emboldened me to take a deeper look at growing this orchid and possible adding another one to my collection. While reading up I noted that my phal seems to have two keikis growing from it original shoots. One shares a bud with nice flowering shoot and the other one actually has a shoot of its own which now has a couple flowers of its own. It's been blooming for almost two months now and I want to know what my next step with this plant should be. The keiki have good leave growth but no routes to speak of. The mother plant appears to be pretty healthy as well. Is there anything other than time for roots to grow in I should do to this plant?

[Paul Mc]

As long as the mother plant is healthy and has plump healthy roots, leave it alone. Right now, the plant is focusing on blooming and almost all of it's energy is being devoted to this. Root growth on the keiki's may be secondary to the blooms at the moment, so just leave them on. The general rule of thumb is to wait until you have about 2 to 3 inches worth of roots on the keiki's before you cut them off and plant them.

[tucker85]

I agree, wait until you have some good roots on the keikies. That could take quite a while. I've had some phals that took over a year to grow long enough roots to remove and pot them.

[sat2280]

Thanks PaulMC and tucker85! The mom has healthy roots and the plan is to leave them alone for the time being. I've read a little about the possibility for keikies to have their own bloom spikes but nothing about whether I should cut this one back after it stops blooming. Any suggestions?

[Wynn Dee13]

I would cut the keikies flower spikes off at the base like you would the main plant. Then hopefully the keikies will put their energy into new leaves and roots.

[tdewk80]

I love my phals, and when I got a keiki...it is like my taste for this hobby has just entered a new level. I do have to say that I think I got too anxious and cut my keiki off the mother plant. I knew the roots were a bit short, but it was sending out a spike! Sign of maturity I thought.

Well I turned to a local garden store that has a beautiful display of orchids of all shapes and sizes, and they said I could go ahead and pot the keiki. Which I did do a couple of days ago, and now I go to this great resource and wonder if I killed my keiki?

So far so good...but I fear for the worst. My keiki is 5 mos old. Any special care now that it might be a premie?

[tim abbott]

Hi sat2280,

It could take a while, but I wouldn't mess with those beauties until they have their own roots established, my guideline is 3 roots, approximately 3 inches. Then just cut an inch or 2 below the base of the kieki & plant it. I've got a phal that has given 7 or 8 new plants that way.

Tim Abbott