Oh No! What Did I Do?

[Jenna]

Ugh, I'm just sickened with myself! Oh, and hi, I'm new and this is my first post, lol.

So after a long, long time, I finally got one of my orchids to bloom. (not relevant to my question/problem - just proud)

img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/JenJenna/100_0698
(I can't post links as this is my first post. If you're computer savvy, this link is only missing the .jpg at the end. Copy/Paste/Add .jpg)

I can't even tell you how excited and proud I am of this plant. It only has three blooms but that's better than NO blooms! And they've been open for ages now and show no signs of going away anytime soon.

So I have this other orchid that I've had forever and ever. I just noticed a few days ago that I think it has two spikes.

img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/JenJenna/Temp
(I can't post links as this is my first post. If you're computer savvy, this link is only missing the .jpg at the end. Copy/Paste/Add .jpg)

You can see the one on the right side and you might be able to see the little one in front.

I was told that those roots hanging off the plant were kekais. I Googled instructions on how to take them off. I was going to go for the top one but then saw the one on the bottom had nice, long roots on it that dipped into the medium a bit. I thought "beautiful, that one will do well in a different pot". So after gently taking this off (no root breakage, it came of as though it wasn't even attached), I looked at it and cursed everything around me... I had taken off the one with the longest spike.

I fear I just screwed my chances of this spike surviving. Do you think it's possible this spike will continue to grow? Ugh, I just hate myself right now! Even though I have that other little one on the main plant, I still am mourning the potential loss of this other one.

[Tess1]

Hi Jenna, welcome to the forum. I don't grow your type of orchid but plenty of people here do. I don't know what will happen to the keiki you took off, but if it has good roots it might grow, I sincerely hope so for your sake. (how sad)

[jbigio]

Welcome
Don’t get down on yourself we all do things that we learn the hard way was not the best way to go, anyway if you could post pict that’s always helpful. As for the spike; that will depend on the root development and the strength of the plant. I would keep it out of bright light for about a week. keep it watered but be carefull that you don’t over water. Good luck
Joe

[kmarch]

Hi and welcome to the forum, although I wish it were under more fortunate circumstances. Unfortunately the person who told you a root was a keiki (baby) didn't have a clue as to what they were talking about. A kieiki is a baby plant that sprouts from a cane (as in a Dendrobium) or inflorescence (Phalaenopsis). They often/eventually have their own roots, can be removed and potted seperately, or can bloom on their own before removal.

It would help to know what kind of plant you have. Is it a Phal by any chance?

[Ak_Orchid]

I hate to disagree with one of the experts here, however i'm not sure you did anything wrong. It looks to me like you had a few kiekis, and if all you did was take one of them off, the spike could continue to grow normally. It would have been better to wait for the plant to finish blooming before removing them. Hopefully you'll still end up with some nice blooms though. Good Luck!

[terry_sealey]

I do not see much of a problem here apart from the conditions you have had this plant in. You appear to have a "phal type" dendrobium looking at the pics and it would appear to have had a bit of a bad time which has made it throw up a few keikis. You probably need to check your growing conditions. It would not normally throw this many keikis if it was growing well.

The keiki looks big enough to survive but you may well lose the flower spike this time around. Also check that you have not damaged the parent plant. If you see any cut or broken surfaces I would dust with some cinamon powder.
Terry

[pikevi]

Welcome to the forum, Jenna.

I doubt if there is any disagreement here. Kmarch is essentially right. Jenna' s account was a bit confusing (sorry, Jenna ) since she was talking about two plants. Until I saw her two plants I could not figure out what she meant by "I was told that those roots hanging off the plant were kekais"

No harm done. The plant would be OK , I guess.

Good luck ,Jenna

[Jenna]

Thank you for all the responses. I'm just skimming through right now as I just got home from work, have some kids to send off to school and a doctor's appointment to look forward too in the next hour, lol.

I'm sorry if my post was confusing. I wrote it all up and when I hit "send", I had the problem with posting the pictures (you must have 5 posts here to post pictures). The first bit was just me blabbering about nothing and the second bit was the "point" of the post, lol. Maybe it would of made better sense if the pictures popped up normally? Probably not.

When I have more time, later today, I'll better read the responses. Looks like I have some stellar advice here, thank you!

And thanks for the welcome too!

[jerrymeola]

Jenna

Welcome to the forum and relax. You did not do any harm.

Whether you will get a flower from the Keikis depends on the hybrid and how much stress it has received. The fact that it came off so east lends me to think it is a type that propagates by dropping Keikis naturally.

I want to point out to everyone that you can not extend a generality to all plants. So far in this thread you are getting two different types of answers to handling Keikis. Unfortunately you have to try to learn what works for your plant. You learn more in failures then you do in success. I know I kill a lot of plants when experimenting.

This compactum hybrid is like that



I removed 6 Keikis from this plant - two had flower buds and 4 did not - within 2 weeks I had 5 flower spikes. Similar to what you said the Keikis almost fall off without much pressure. I have done this 10 more times since and never lost a flower.

It is not possible to know what parentage is in your plant.

Time will tell.

I suggest you find a spot for this plant that is brighter. I do not think you are giving it enough light. Dendrobiums flower from seed in 18 months, so if you have had this 'for ever' it is not getting enough light.

[Jenna]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this thread.

The keiki with the spike on it has continued to grow beautifully. I'm assuming it'll just continue to do so. I also went a bit crazy with the rest of the plant and removed the other keikis, except the other one with the spike on it. It, too, is growing beautifully.

That's good to know about the light. I have to say, I had moved it to my brightest window this summer and it got a lot of light and wouldn't you know, it finally did it's thing. I'll surely be keeping this plant in good light from now on!

Another thing I was doing bad previously is that after a few months of having it, I repotted it into a new non-orchidy container and used good old regular soil. It wasn't until 5 months ago that I did some online research on orchids and realized there's a good darn reason why it was in such goofy "dirt" previously, lol, and subsequently fixed that situation.

I love that I have the mommy plant and 4 babies now, one of which is in spike. After the keiki in spike that is still on the mommy plant does it's thing and is done, I want to take that one off too. See, I saw some beautiful pictures of similar plants here that didn't have all those keiki things sticking out of it and I like it very much and would like to see if I can't just do the same.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions! I now should get a picture of my last remaining orchid that hasn't bloomed for me yet. I'd really like a plant ID on it too.

[MSPProductions]

Jenna,
Wow that is some crazy plant...it looks like you made some good recent changes. I'd love to see a close up of the top of the Dendrobium.

With all that new growth at the base of the plant, you might have a small forrest in a couple of years!

My better half is from the Seattle area origionally and had some success
with orchids up there. Keep close attention to light and temperature and humidity come winter time.

[11Orchid126]

Remember, when the growth is at the bottom of the cane, it's not a keiki but a new cane starting. Don't remove any of these. Only remove growth growing on the side of the canes.

[Jenna]

MSP and 11Orchid, thank you for your post.

I hope nobody minds but this but I'm going to post this and another post right after it to get to my 5 post goal so I can post pictures.

[Jenna]

Please excuse this post. Honestly, I don't have anything constructive to add anywhere else yet to help my post count. Please don't ban me.

Pictures, next post...

[Jenna]

Okay, this is the plant before I "had at it".



And this is the end result. I was planning on taking that lower one off but after 11orchid's post, I guess I shouldn't? With it taken off, it's ugly. With it staying on, it's ugly, LOL. I should probably of left the plant alone! But hey, I have a bunch of plants now, lol.

Sorry this picture is blurry. Here's momma and her babies.


Here's the baby with the spike that has grown 3/4-1 inch more since plucking it off the big plant.

[pikevi]

Nice plants and a nice set up, Jenna

I have been waiting for almost 9 months for one of my Dens to spike

[Jenna]

Thank you!

I use the bottoms of the orchid planters to root Hoya leaves in, lol. Hey, it's just the right depth for it and it keeps me nice and motivated to keep that tray filled with wonderful humidity producing water, lol.

[11Orchid126]

It looks like you did a good job of dividing the plant. Now all the strength the mother plant has can go into the new cane. You may think your mother plant looks ugly, but it won't when that new cane shoots up.

[palefaced&pink]

this is a great thread! and that is an adorable orchid collection! even "the big ugly one".