Can you clone orchids this way?

[Orchid_lady]

I came across with this product that clones orchids at ebay today, and I am wondering if anybody has bought or used this product before. Do you people think this really works or if its a scam?


http://cgi.ebay.com/CLONE-YOUR-ORCHI...QQcmdZViewItem

[lescottrell]

Hi Orchid lady,

I have only registered for this site in the last hour, and I can not speak for the exact product being offered on ebay. However, there are many similar products on offer from numerous laboratories in Australia. When such preparations are applied to the joins between segments, as shown on ebay, keikis will grow, often 2, 3 or more at each joint. I personally have not used these hormone preparations on my plants, as they already multiply at a faster rate than I have time for. I know a number of commercial producers that use these products to rapidly increase there nursery stock.

Cheers,
Les

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

You may want to compare the ebay product to the Keiki Grow product here,
http://www.orchidmall.com/hormones/keikifaq.htm
I have not used the Keiki Grow on a Phal spikes, so I don't know how effective it is for that purpose. But, you still want to trim the spike to a length determined by whether you want keikis or more blooms. You want to cut the spike fairly short for keikis, down near the plant. Then use your hormone paste on a node or two.

My experience so far is that the auxins (for rooting) act much like the cytokinins (for new growths) when applied to orchids, in that they seem to stimulate new growths instead of roots, tho I base this on several formulations that are liquids and need repeat applications. The pastes are made with lanolin and are applied only once.

[Ellen]

My main reservation about the ad in question is the use of the word "cloning", which many people associate with mass production. If anyone is expecting to mass produce orchids through "cloning" with keiki paste, they're in for a big disappointment. This method will, at best, produce only one or a few plants from any given parent. At worst, it will be totally ineffective. Having said that, I should add that I've never tried keiki paste, so I have no idea whether this stuff works. No hybrid phal in my possession has ever produced a keiki spontaneously, so maybe it would be interesting to try sometime. Many species phals produce keikis naturally, so can be propagated by division ("cloning", since the offspring is genetically identical to the parent).