Dend anosmum keikis

[slippery_biscuit]

Good morning,
Question today regarding my dend. It is mounted on cork, hanging in a skylight in my bathroom. Have owned it about two months and it seems to like the location as it is putting out quite a bit of new growth. About 5 canes drooping down (and a new one starting at the base), and these canes must be where the keikis pop out. One cane just starting to sprout roots and a pair of leaves at a lower node; a second cane has been at it awhile. The growth at this node consist of a small clump of roots 1"-2" in length and 4-5 new canes, with as many as 8 leaves. Looks to me like this larger keiki is ready to be mounted. I'm thinking I should mount it but not sever the mother cane until .... when? Wait 'till the roots are noticably infiltrating the new mount? Thought to mount it on tree fern with some sphagnum moss.

Second question.. How does the flowering schedule fit in with the plant in growth like this?


Thanks! Jeff

[jerrymeola]

Placing a new mount near the parent and letting it grow onto it is a safe way to divide. Keiki are normally placed into a pot to establish before mounting. I have tried mounting large keiki (6-8 with 6-12 inch air roots) and still lose more than half. I now plant all keiki in pots for 6-10 months before mounting.

The Keiki development may be the result of too much Nitrogen fertilizer. I would cut back on the fertilizer to encourage flowers.

[slippery_biscuit]

Potting the keiki sounds like the way to go. I don't really care for the cork chunk on which the parent is mounted, so I probably won't bring the keiki up to the same mount.

That's interesting about the nitrogen. So far I've just been using plain water and was thinking maybe I should hit it with a diluted fertilizer.

Thanks, Jeff