My first Kei Kei

[flowergirl22]

Hi everyone. I have just separated my first kei kei from the mother plant and repotted it. I read all the instructions I could find and thought I had done everything as I should, but now I have a question. The kei kei has about four good roots anywhere from 2 to three inches spaced evenly apart and straight out from the stem. I cut the stem about an inch below the kei kei, and it is running horizontally the same way as the roots. When I potted it I covered the stem and roots in media. Is this correct? Will the stem being in the media cause it to rot?

I hope this was right because I am so excited to have this baby plant. Now I want to have more!

Any advice would be appreciated.

[catasetum-ian]

Originally Posted by flowergirl22

Hi everyone. I have just separated my first kei kei from the mother plant and repotted it. I read all the instructions I could find and thought I had done everything as I should, but now I have a question. The kei kei has about four good roots anywhere from 2 to three inches spaced evenly apart and straight out from the stem. I cut the stem about an inch below the kei kei, and it is running horizontally the same way as the roots. When I potted it I covered the stem and roots in media. Is this correct? Will the stem being in the media cause it to rot?

I hope this was right because I am so excited to have this baby plant. Now I want to have more!

Any advice would be appreciated.

4 roots about 2-3 inches sounds good to me. but perhaps some pics of your plant would make it easier for the others to help you out.
but as a general rule, i used sterilized cutters (using flame), then i treat the cut surface with fungicide (chemical or cinnamon powder), and most of the time i let the cut surface to "cure" 2-3 days before i resume watering to reduce chances of infection tru the cut surface.
good luck with you first KEIKI !!

[flowergirl22]

Your advice is much appreciated. Guess I was just worried I had done something wrong. Haven't had a lot of time lately to spend on my orchids because I have been caring for my ailing father, but I will try and send a picture when I get a chance. I must say the mother plant must be really healthy and strong because my surgical removal hasn't seemed to hurt it any.

Thank you again.

[Daethen]

The mother is probably doing better than it was as it does not have to support the baby now. I am NO expert, but some would say that the roots belonging to the keiki are used to being in the air. Many people will pot their keikis on the top of the medium so that the air roots stay above the medium and new roots will grow and find their way into the medium. I have not gotten to cut my first keiki loose yet, so I am not speaking from experience but from what I have read.

[leberal]

i have a similar keikei like urs and is doing gr8 yet be aware of root rot as they are vulnerable

[orchids4me]

Ian and Jonada's advice will work. I've had keiki roots rot may have been because of the drastic change from air to meia. I did mist the air roots for months prior to cutting and potting but roots sometimes need to adjust. My next keiki I might try what Jonada described see if I get a different result with another Den keiki. But as far as Den kinginum Keikis I've had they fell off on their own and I pottedt them normal and they did just fine. So it may depend ontype of orchid... I have a phal keiki in sphag and its doing fine also potted in.
So to stress what I mean by type of orchid or genera...
Hopefully maybe katrina or Brooke can shed more light on this also regarding keiki's

[bearded orchid]

Another viable option would be to mount the little guy. Those air roots would be quite happy and the plant wouldn't have to adjust mediums.

[flowergirl22]

Thanks to all for the helpful advice. Fortunately I did have one long root that I couldn't get in the small pot. I didn't want to use a larger pot so I left it to the air. Hopefully I will be able to send a picture sometime this week. It is just so cute, I would hate to lose it.

[leberal]

so it is keiki for which orchid?

[flowergirl22]

The Kei kei came from a phalaenopsis that I purchased in March of 2011. It had two spikes full of blooms. After it quit blooming the spikes looked so healthy that I couldn't bring myself to cut them all the way back, so I just clipped them about halfway down and repotted the plant. I noticed the kei kei forming in June. It could have been there awhile and I just missed it. Both spikes still look healthy so again I can't bring myself to cut them back all the way. If they start to turn brown I will clip them.

Thanks again for your help.

[orchids4me]

Originally Posted by leberal

hw old r u?

Hi leberal,
I think that you should ask a question like this in a private message to a member its not appropriate or polite to ask this in a thread on a forum. You putting the member on the spot, just not polite to do.
Have a good day