Please help me identify my orchid!!

[Bzeem]

I've been trying to figure out what species or type my orchid is for the past week....and have had no luck!!!
If anyone can clue me in, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!
Bzeem

I've attached a pic of my baby!!

[Bzeem]

This is how my baby looks a year after getting her....


She's started sprouting a Kiewi? Kiki?
Two actually.....Im still trying to figure out how I'll replant them without damaging the original stems.

And are those long stems called pseudobulbs?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Your plant is a warm growing Phalaenopsis type Dendrobium. It looks like your two tallest canes have rot at the base. Please look carefully there to see if the tissue looks dead. If indeed the tissue at the baase is dead, you may want to separate the good short bulb with its new growth from the bulbs with rot. The keiki looks like it has some roots and can be potted up, but I would recommend leaving most of the tall bulb attached to the keiki. Put a hole in the bottom of a plastic pot when potting up and let the extra length of bulb stick out. This way you can let the keiki continue to draw some nurishment from the bulb for a while until you get tired of having this odd arrangement to deal with. It will take a year or two of growing for the keiki and small bulb to build back up to blooming size. I think you may have gotten this rot from keeping the plant too wet during winter when this type of plant would rather have a long time between waterings. While growing, you can water this Den much more. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[Bzeem]

First of all Thank you so much!!

Now I know it's not called a stem...but a bulb.


***Question 1-- If the two tallest bulbs are rotted, they are both sprouting (one w/ the keiki, and the other is sprouting some new leaves though they are hard to see on the picture)

Assuming it is still rotting...should these new growths make me reconsider cutting them out just yet?



***Question 2-- The smallest bud is actually giving me a second keiki though its kind of hidden from view and is only semi attached to the smallest bud. Do I detach that keiki from the small bud or keep them as one entity?

Thank you again Cynthia!!

[jerrymeola]

The new leaves on the tall cane are indeed called a keiki which can be removed to start a new plant. The leaves at the base of the plant is normally just called new growth. This is the way dens grow and should not be removed.

Dendrobiums often lose all their leaves and start new growth at the base like this. Especially on younger plants and your looks to be less than 2 years old (from seed).

It is not going to be possible to ID your orchid other than a Phal type Dendrobiums. There are so many crosses that look the same and seeds have such variety in color and appearance. I can show you dozens of crosses that look just like yours and orchids from single plant seeds that look like different plants.

Young dens can often look bad so do not be too quick to decide it is rotted. Feel the bottom of the cane (stem) and see if it is soft. If it is firm it is OK. I probably have 500 young plants that look just like yours. They do not rot easily. Rain last night was up to 5 inches around the area and the rain this month is causing terrible problems with cattleyas (I have had to destroy 150 so far this month from bacterial rot) but not one den has rotted.

Keikis can be removed this small but my losses are so great at this size (over 75%) that I have stopped doing it and wait until the roots are six inches before I remove them. Keikis this small need very even water and even one day of over drying can kill them. The tiny roots can not hold much water.

[Bzeem]

Wow once again...Thank you for the quick and detailed response!!

Knowing it's the Phal of the dendrobium will help in my research on it.
I'll leave the Keiki on till the roots are a good 6 inches and will allow the other dens to continue growing for now.

I love this website!!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The growth from the smallest cane (better word for these when talking about Dendrobiums) is not a keiki. It is the normal yearly growth that Dendrobiums make. With out a new growth from the base of the plant every year your 'plant' would eventually die. What ever you do, do not remove that growth from the small cane. The areas that I see that look bad are probably old rot and not active rot. The question is are the discolored areas growing fast in size. Is it a wet rot. It's so hard to tell by looking at pictures. If not, you can leave the whole thing as is for a while. If the bad area completely closes off moisture transport from the roots to the upper part of the cane, these canes will start to shrivel. That is your cue that the canes are no longer pare of your plant, and removal will make no difference. If you have been misting the Kieki (that which grows up on the side of the cane, not at the base), that particular cane may be able to retain its moisture by getting water from the keiki. Also, misting both cnes will probably slow down the desication. It is up to you to determine if these canes are still part of the rooted plant (biologically connected with atleast some live tissue). If they are not biologically connected, it will not harm the base plant to remove them. If you remove the cane with keiki and put it into a pot with cane still attached, you are doing the equivalent of leaving the keiki on the plant until the roots are longer. Everything depends on determining if the canes are biologically attached to the rooted part of the plant. And there is probably no hurry to find out. Just wait and see. Cynthia

[Bzeem]

Point noted about leaving the new growth be. I do think the canes have "old rot" on them as they have been like this nearly a year since I orginally bought it...and have still been responding this postively this season.
I think the misting is a great idea in case the Keiki is not getting sufficient moisture.
I think also removing it from the ceramic pot and placing it in a friendlier orchid environment will further it's progress but I will probably hold off on touching this until the keiki is a bit more developed......although I am very impressed with its growing speed thus far!
With very little care on my part until now...my baby's suddenly and independantly thriving!!