3 new plants growing of an old one

[brucek]

Hi there,

I don't know if anyone has any advice about this but I thought I would post this question all the same. I have a phalaenopsis plant that went through a bad patch this summer with excessive heat exposure. I've managed to rescue the plant but what has happened is the original plant has died back and 3 new ones have started growing out from the original one. They are growing quite close together. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice about splitting them up as I don't know what happens when plants grow so close together that their leaves get in each others way.

Hope someone will have some advice

Look forward to any help or suggestion people may have.

Kind regards,
Bruce

[mayres]

Hi and welcome!
I'm sure they can be separated - have they developed to the extent that each has its own root supply? Sounds interesting. Would like to see a picture, but you cannot post one until you have 15 posts total. If you want to send a picture to ayresmike@comcast.net I could post one for you if you don't want to wait. You would want to pot up each as they have their own root system at least a couple of inches long and being careful not to overpot - keep the size of pot down to match the amount of available roots. mike

[brucek]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was considering sending a picture of the plant but as you say because I'm so new I wasn't sure I would be able to. Anyway I've taken not of the email address you posted in your reply. I will try and take a picture of the plant tomorrow and send it to you ( I live in the UK and it's dark here now so I would like to wait until tomorrow and take a picture of the plant in daylight). I can't see that the new plants have much of a root system yet (they have one or 2 shoots now) but you'll probably get a better idea when I send you a picture.


Kind regards,
Bruce K

[arleneg]

I just learned that Dave decreased the newbie posting down to 10.

Another way of posting pic is the Go Advance reply method, then inserting an image within the message. But first, make sure the pic resides on a photo hosting website, or your own website, so you have a link (URL address) to point it to.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I would leave one of the new growths on the original root system, as this will give that piece the fastest possible growth. The others need some roots before removing. I don't think there is any rush to remove the extra starts.

[brucek]

Hi Arleneg,

Unfortunately I don't have a website that I could post the pictures to but thanks anyway for your advice.

[brucek]

Hi Cynthia,

I've sent pictures to Mike so I hope he will be able to post them for me. They are very your plants so I was going to leave them for a bit anyway. I can't see that they have a lot of roots yet.

Kind regards,
BRuce

[mayres]

Here we go Bruce!

[mayres]

I think I'd get some fresh media and repot what you have. While you remove all the old dead roots and media you can thoroughly inspect each of the remaining plants and see for sure what you have growing from each. Any plants with 3-4 roots a couple of inches long you could separate into their own pot. Of course you could just let them grow bigger as is as well if the media is not too old, but just from the picture it looks to me like it could use a little maintenance. Might be just the after affects of the "bad patch" it went through too. Be prepared for a long recovery process. With any luck you should have three nice blooming phals in about two years - hang in there - it will take patience. mike

[arleneg]

Bruce,

I just noticed you've posted 10 messages. That means you can now post pics around here.

[brucek]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for posting the pictures for me. I had actually recently repotted the plant before it went through it's bad patch after an unusual hot spell the past summer. I think I will wait a bit for the young plants to grow their roots and then I can trim away all the old dead roots from the old plant. You are quite right about having patience but it will be nice to have a couple of new plants as you say it will take a good year or more for them to develop. Bruce

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

With the plantlets left on the old root system, it might surprise you how fast the growths will gain size. A large healthy roots system is worth its weight in gold, well maybe silver (silver plate?).

[mayres]

(silver plate?).

LOL
Good one Cynthia!