No green roots in months, growing keiki
 

Hi, I’ve had my phalaenopsis orchid for a few years now. It used to be very happy, and even bloomed for the second time last summer. Since then, I’ve repotted my plant several times because it had a fungus gnat issue, then rotting roots, then another fungus gnat issue, then more rotting roots... I ended up changing soil mixtures each time and am now using the classic repotme mixture. I used keiki paste for the first time late last summer after the first time repotting. I used to give her 2 cubes of ice a week, then saw on YouTube that I should actually soak her in water for 10 mins once a week, then saw that I kept over watering her, so I started giving her less water, but then her roots are drying... as you can probably guess, it’s been very difficult to find a healthy balance.

Now the keiki is still growing, but no roots yet. The parent plant’s leaves are drooping and the base of her crown is black/brown. There’s not a single GREEN root on the parent plant... is there anything I can do to save her? 😭

regular watering. The keiki will most likely not form roots for one more year. The leaves are not too bad, it will do fine with regular watering.

I generally only water one side of my pots, not the whole thing and I water twice a week so less but more regularly

The plant looks like it definitely could use more water. If you add KelpMax to the water, it'll help a lot.

Re-re-repotting can be a serious setback to root growth.

I disagree that the "keiki will most likely not form roots for one more year". In my opinion, that's just too firm of a statement for something that varies all over the map, depending upon your growing conditions and the particular plant. More often than not, I see roots in under a month or two. I've even seen keikies start to grow a leaf, then stop and grow only roots.

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You need to do some reading here in a thread for beginners learning how to grow Phalaenopsis. From the left yellow menu choose Forums then Beginners. Near the top look for the sticky thread The Phal abuse stops here.

In general Phals need warm temperatures, lots of air at the roots, low light conditions and plenty of water.

It looks pretty good although a little dry. Look at the color of the bark and as soon as the bark starts looking dry or the pot feels light: water. Room temperature water is best; exposure to cold ice cubes can damage the plant.

Fungus gnats can happen any time there is some decaying tissue. Repeated repots can stress the plant. If it happens again, look into mixing a mosquito dunk into the water. This will take care of the gnat larvae without disturbing the plant. Unless there’s something wrong with the media, repotting ever 1-3 years is usually all that a Phalaenopsis needs.

Same here Ray but saying that to someone who has never grown a keiki is not helpful as keikis take months to grow. I always thought a keiki would form and be ready in a couple of months but it will be a year minimum before one can even consider removing a keiki from a mother plant - now that is more realistic advice to me now that I know better.
Regardless, there is no reason to debate who can grow orchids faster!! I honestly do not care if you can grow a keiki in a few minutes Ray.
I personally can't even see a keiki in the picture!!
And if the keiki is too small to see on a picture then your statement is just bragging. Growing orchids has never been about who can do it fastest although I do always try to do it best.

Can someone point out this keiki for me? Do I need glasses?

Ochidtinkerer - just because my opinion differs from yours is no reason to be insulting.

My statement was not a debate in the least, and in no way insinuated anything about the quality or skills of any grower.

Would it be possible for the OP to take a few more pics from different angles, including some closeups of the stem and pot? The posted picture doesn't reflect the problems stated. Thanks.

Orchidtinkerer, I'm going to have to give you the same warning WaterWitchin gave you not long ago in a different thread, and ask you once again to please play nicely. You are entitled to your opinion and entitled to disagree, but there are other, more respectful ways of voicing that disagreement. Insults are never the solution for making your voice heard.


As to the topic at hand, I respectfully disagree with you as well. Yes, keikis can take upwards of a year to develop, but I also have experience with keikis that grew much, much faster than that. Leaf biomass isn't as important as having a good set of roots on the keiki in determining whn to separate it. I've seen plants which have keikis that develop roots at a much faster rate than the leaves, with the result being that it is possible to separate the keiki and mother much sooner. And this is without throwing in the added variable of cultural conditions...

I do have to agree, that I'm not sure where the keiki is at in the photo. I see a side spike at the top, and what seems to be an overly developed, leaf-like bract further down the spike.

I agree. More pics, and some close up. I'm not seeing the problems mentioned, or the keiki, unless we're referring to that "leaf-like bract" as Camille said. Having said that, my eyesight isn't the greatest.