Newbie with Phal-type Den Questions

[Ruby]

Hi everyone...

So about 18 months ago, on a whim, I bought an orchid at Lowes from their shelf of sad-sack plants. Didn't think it looked sick, it was just at the end of its blooming. So I took it home and it finished blooming, the cane died back and I eventually cut it off (maybe that was a mistake?)

Its been fine only it hasn't bloomed since. It is healthy looking, has grass green leaves and is on the small side--two stalks, no canes, the tallest one is maybe 8 inches. Its only "enemy" has been a mouse who has been chewing on the lower leaves (errggg...).

Finally, about 5 weeks ago, 2 nubs appeared. One has remained a little nub--the other grew leaves and I thought, great, this thing is going to bloom--very excited! Today when I looked at it to see if I could see a cane, I noticed this group of leaves have formed roots that are almost 1/2 in length. So from reading here and there, I'm guessing this is a keiki. It is on the stalk, not a cane, just under the top most leaf.

I'm looking for advice about what to do with the keiki, how I can get this orchid to bloom, should I repot?

Some facts: it is in 4 inch clay pot, growing in a piece of wood; I can see roots around the edges of the wood and coming out the top. It is in a SW window, getting filtered sun midday. The tips of the leaves are dry so I stepped up the watering a bit.

When I get my camera charged I can send pictures if it would help.

Thanks for your help!
Rebecca

[FLBob]

My guess is that your den is in a pot squeezed in between two pieces of coconut husk. This has become a common potting technique for dens over the past several years.

I have several that have been planted that way. Dens keiki frequently. I tend to leave the keikes on my dens and allow them to grow and flower. I just chalk it up to it's how they grow. I have 1 den Pixie that has 12 keikis on the parent plant, roots going every where.

On your watering, remember you can never overwater at one time but you can underwater at one time. You overwater by watering too often. Saturate your plant each time you water, the whole plant. So when the plant appears to be too dry, give it water over a longer period on watering day, before you increase the frequency of your watering.

Your psudobulbs (canes) will be plump if you water well and they will tend to be shriveled and dessicated if you water too lightly.

[digitalgate]

I think you might not have enough light. Normally Dendrobium do not keiki on top of a cane, they do that when under stress or insufficient light. You need to increase light level.

[kmarch]

Hi Ruby and welcome to the forum!!!

Ok, lets see, probably the very best place to start is with a good culture sheet for phal-type dendrobiums. You can find one on this forum or the general den culture sheet that the AOS offers is for phal-types so that one will be good too: AOS | Home. Give the culture sheets a good read and let us know if you have questions about them.

Let's talk terminology for a second just to make sure we're talking about the same plant structures when we use a term.
cane = the primary, slightly swollen (in dens) leaf bearing structure of the plant. New canes start growing form the base of the old canes
inflorescence = the flower stem, usually growing out from the top or near the top of the cane, this structure bears the flower buds and flowers.

Because your "nubs" are appearing under the top leaf, I believe they are probably new inflorescences (or flower spikes as we sometimes call them). You very well may have flowers in your future!

I can't tell form your original post if the structure you cut off was the cane or the spent inflorescence. If it was the inflorescence, that's fine as dendrobium inflorescences will not re-flower. If it was the cane though, they should be left alone, even if leafless, as the cane will continue to store nutrients for the rest of the plant and new inflorescences can grow out of older canes.

In my experience, keikis result from one of several things:
1) incorrect seasonal watering cycle - Some dens (not all and not phal types) expect a dry cool period. If they get watered when they expect a dry period, they keiki. Since you have a phal-type, I do not believe this is the problem with your den.
2) root loss - If the orchid experiences root loss, the the plant is looking for ways to survive. One of these ways is to keiki. Assuming your den is in spike, wait until after it has flowered and then repot and check the roots.
3) just because - sometimes a perfectly healthy, well cared for den will throw a keiki just because it feels like it.

If you can post some pics please do as this will help us see and identify what's going on with your orchid.

[Ruby]

Thanks everyone for your advice--I'm excited about all of this new action on my "baby." And it is great to get the correct terminology. So I was using "cane" incorrectly--there is one main cane which is about 8 inches tall and it is the one with the keiki (which seems to be growing by the minute) and another nub--they are both just under the top leaves of this cane. One nub is just that, a nub. So from what you're saying it sounds like I can leave the keiki and that it might send out its own inflorescence? Cool!

It also has two other, smaller canes at the base of the plant and upon close inspection it looks like there might be an inflorescence coming up from one of these--will have to watch to see if I'm right or just hoping. There are two inflorescences that were cut from the top of the tallest cane--one had been cut before I bought the plant, the other I cut when it stopped blooming.

The watering advice is good--I hadn't been watering the whole plant but will start to do that, giving it a good soaking from top to bottom. I wonder about the light--I was actually worried it was getting too much as it also has a little bit of light yellow on the edges of some of the leaves.

You all are so great--as soon as I find my battery charger for my camera and charge it up, I'll send y'all some pictures. I'm so glad I've stuck with this plant all these months. If this critter blooms, I could get addicted...

[kmarch]

Keikis are baby plants. They usually take a few years to mature and flower on their own. They can flower while still attached to the mother plant but usually not right away. You can leave the keiki on the mother plant or when it has several roots a couple of inches long, you can remove it and pot it up on its own. I have some keikis on a Den fimbriatum that I'm going to remove before too long.

[tansyflower]

Keikis are cool!!

It's like getting a bonus.

When dens are big you often get them from a couple of the canes, even when the plant is healthy. I was given one yesterday off a cooktown orchid (after admiring the mother plant profusely) that had two big fat canes already. I also noticed that one other cane off the mother plant was bent, and had produced about five big keikis.

Good luck with your den. I grow them outside strapped to trees and all over the place.

[benetay]

I have a phal that only produces keiki and never a flower. I have a total of 5 keiki and 6 spikes. I guess conditions do play a major part and of cause the health of the plant. For Dendrobium, i'll concur with digitalgate by moving it to a brighter location if possible but that is just a guess without seeing the actual plant itself.

Cheers!

[Ruby]

About the light...it is a mostly southerly window, with a slight westerly angle. It gets direct sun from about 11 in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon--this will stretch out as we move further into spring/summer. It was further away from the direct light on my plant table, so the light would be filtered. Now I've moved it forward so it will get direct light during those hours. Do you all think that is enough light?

[patticake]

It sounds good to me! How exciting to have new growth! I've noticed that my dens tend to mope when moved or repotted. They'll pick up in time. Good luck, and

[tansyflower]

benetay, just something i was told by a guy who sells locally.

He said that if he wants his dens to produce keikis, and not flowers, he gives them heaps of fertilizer (N type, maybe). So maybe ur overfertilising with high n fert??? U may need to swap to the blooming type fert (high P or K, I can't remember)

You may have to check this out further as I don't want to tell you someting that may harm ur den.