My keiki and first mount!!

[Musika]

A lot of you guys have been following my story on, My keiki and now thanks to -K-, I have cut my keiki from the mommy and mounted it. I was so giddy about doing this little project, waiting for my keiki to be big enough was the worst part. But now it is all set up hanging in my box window above all my other orchids. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will grow and be happy there! I took a few pictures while mounting my keiki. The roots going different ways made it a little funny to find a good spot for it. I am so in love with this mount!!

[Emma Grey]

Awesome! It looks great.

[otis 226]

A beautiful job! Looks like its been mounted for a month at least. I think it will do extremely well for you. Enjoyed watching it grow as well. Hope you keep all us 'aunts and uncles' up to date with new pictures from time to time
Cheers,
Tony

[Musika]

Originally Posted by otis 226

A beautiful job! Looks like its been mounted for a month at least. I think it will do extremely well for you. Enjoyed watching it grow as well. Hope you keep all us 'aunts and uncles' up to date with new pictures from time to time
Cheers,
Tony

Thanks! I like taking pictures, so I am sure I will keep you guys up to date. LOL

[BGGraham1]

Really nice! I love -K-'s mounts! And you did an awesome job!

[pikkumyy]

very cool, i love the root poking through the mount, ill definitely do that if i have a keiki being a pain.

[Daethen]

Looks like you did an awesome job!!

[Musika]

Tanks everyone!! Now just to wait and watch it grow! How long do you think till it grows a spike?

[Daethen]

Aren't you the eager beaver!! No idea, just sit back and relax and be really happy with new roots. That way when it spikes you can really be happy.

[JBee]

Sooo cute, and I love the panty hose sling

[syndywindy]

Looks like you did a great job positioning it, and I love how you got the root through the small opening in the mount. -K- mounts are great aren't they?!

[plantloverlisa]

Great job, I just love mounts.

[dannym4243]

I too love the mount and quite frankly I'm a little envious. The reason for that Is when I lived in Panama there was no reason for pots you just tied them to a tree. Here I get very concerned with them drying out too quickly, how do you guys deal with that? I'd love to try in and perhaps I will with one of my new orchids.
Thanks
Danny

[Musika]

Originally Posted by syndywindy

Looks like you did a great job positioning it, and I love how you got the root through the small opening in the mount. -K- mounts are great aren't they?!

Yes I love that -K- makes mounts!!! I see myself buying more in the future!

[orchids4me]

It looks great! Synda pointed out what I was going to say about the opening in the mount. Its as itlf that mount was meant for this plant snugs in real nicely to ut.
Good job!

[bearded orchid]

Looks perfect! Like it was tailor-fitted just for its little roots. I look forward to seeing it develop.

[edgy]

Great job....looks really nice!

[berkeleysgr8]

I hope that it LOVES its new home! I think it looks great!

[benauld]

Wow, that looks really good! Hopefully I'll be able to give that a go sometime soon.

[Greybeard]

WooHoo! Great job, a new little baby and a new mount,-K-'s mounts are outstanding. I just did my first mount as well with my project#3 Phal. Yours looks great, I think you did an excellent job and we all get nervous with our first repot and mount Keep us posted

[bearded orchid]

This makes me all excited! My Phal's keiki is just starting to sprout its first leaf. Once it gets as far along as your's I'd love to try mounting it too. Do you think I could get a mount from -K- as well? It seemed to be very well crafted and eye-catching.

[Brisbanite]

Originally Posted by Musika

A lot of you guys have been following my story on, My keiki and now thanks to -K-, I have cut my keiki from the mommy and mounted it. I was so giddy about doing this little project, waiting for my keiki to be big enough was the worst part. But now it is all set up hanging in my box window above all my other orchids. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will grow and be happy there! I took a few pictures while mounting my keiki. The roots going different ways made it a little funny to find a good spot for it. I am so in love with this mount!!

Great going Musika. Have followed your posts. The keiki is amazing. Great roots. How often do you water the mount? Just love it. The spag.moss, do you just keep it moist?

[Musika]

There is not much moss so it does dry out fast. I spray the whole thing every morning. So far it seems to me doing fine.

[bearded orchid]

Sweet! How have the roots been since you mounted? Any new growth?

[Musika]

New growth, yes it does look like one of the roots is starting to head for the wood. I was going to ask too, I did see couple days ago some brown stuff on two of the roots. Anyone have any ideas?

[bearded orchid]

Dunno, it just looks like some of the velamin tissue is drying out or dying. Some of my roots that are out of any medium will do that occasionally. As long as they turn green when you water and the lower portion is still strong and green they should be fine.

[Puddy1]

Musika, you did such a great job! What a cute little baby and that mount is perfect like everyone was saying. Just like it was made for it. Good luck with her, she looks so natural (except for the panty hose ) she should just take off.

[-k-]

The plant looks great all mounted up!!! Are the root tips still green, I see the small brown spots, is it perhaps receiving any direct sunlight or is the prior grow space much different than it's current location?

[Musika]

Originally Posted by -k-

The plant looks great all mounted up!!! Are the root tips still green, I see the small brown spots, is it perhaps receiving any direct sunlight or is the prior grow space much different than it's current location?

No direct sunlight and it is hanging right above its mother.

[vanessa]

I love this Musika! Seeing yours helps me to know how big my Keiki should be before I remove it from the mother plant.

[Musika]

I know its been a long time since I have been on here, but here is an update on my keiki. I took alot of pictures from different angles so you can see how the roots are doing. Enjoy

[Emma Grey]

Wow! It looks great.

[koshki]

Oh, whew...that first backside shot made me think it had lost all its leaves!

I have yet to try putting a phal on a mount. Yours looks great!

[vanda_obsession]

seeing this makes me wanna mount a bunch of mine! I did find two nice pieces of driftwood at the beach that would make great mounts... I can't wait to try my hand at it!

[beezermommy]

Hi - love the way you mounted the phal. What is the little sling that is holding the sphag? Can't figure it out. I always have a problem when mounting anything with sphag, it falls all over and I have to put lots of wire to hold it in. Thanks.

[Brisbanite]

Looks like pantihose. V. useful invention. (by a man no less).

[JYM]

AAAAwesome!!

[-k-]

Looks like it's doing very well Nice healthy root attachment

[nenella]

Excellent! It seems to be taking very well to it's new home!

[PaulB]

This is inspiring! The mount is great, great looking piece of wood, beautiful plant.

Now about the pantyhose...

[Musika]

So while I was watering my keiki today I noticed this and was whaaaaaaaat??



Here are some pics of the roots. They are starting to take over the mount!

[Jlie]

Whaaaaat!?! Indeed!!! CONGRATS! Those are some happy snappy roots!

[englandfx]

So let me get this right... You acquired you phal keiki basically june/july of 2011, and it is now february 2012. So roughly your plant is about 7 or 8 months old.

Now with reasoning, and logic, and my database of information; it is near impossible for a phal to produce a flower spike at 7 months in age. Phals take at least 2 or 3 YEARS to produce spike from when they are a keiki.

This then makes me conclude, your picture is photoshopped.

[Musika]

Originally Posted by englandfx

So let me get this right... You acquired you phal keiki basically june/july of 2011, and it is now february 2012. So roughly your plant is about 7 or 8 months old.

Now with reasoning, and logic, and my database of information; it is near impossible for a phal to produce a flower spike at 7 months in age. Phals take at least 2 or 3 YEARS to produce spike from when they are a keiki.

This then makes me conclude, your picture is photoshopped.

HAHAHA!!! Yea I thought I was going to have to wait a year or more for it to spike. I feed it Orchid Miracle Gro, give it bright shaded light, and protect it from my sisters fat cat. LOL

[-k-]

Well check that out! Well done... The plant looks so healthy it's no wonder why it's rewarding you with a spike! Can't wait to see the blooms!

[bearded orchid]

Congrats Musika! I hope it graces you with many lovely blooms

Originally Posted by englandfx

So let me get this right... You acquired you phal keiki basically june/july of 2011, and it is now february 2012. So roughly your plant is about 7 or 8 months old.

Now with reasoning, and logic, and my database of information; it is near impossible for a phal to produce a flower spike at 7 months in age. Phals take at least 2 or 3 YEARS to produce spike from when they are a keiki.

This then makes me conclude, your picture is photoshopped.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this can happen. I actually have twin keikis blooming after only 7 months. They're still nursing from Mom so that might be why but a bloom is a bloom and these little ones must think they're big stuff, haha.

[1joyceh]

Great job Musika!!!

[Brooke]

Originally Posted by englandfx

So let me get this right... You acquired you phal keiki basically june/july of 2011, and it is now february 2012. So roughly your plant is about 7 or 8 months old.

Now with reasoning, and logic, and my database of information; it is near impossible for a phal to produce a flower spike at 7 months in age. Phals take at least 2 or 3 YEARS to produce spike from when they are a keiki.

This then makes me conclude, your picture is photoshopped.

I guess you need to reexamine your reasoning, and logic, and your database because a keiki can bloom at a tender age. What you really need to do is broaden your experience with all the different species of Phals and discover there are no standard rules.

Brooke

[Ghana O]

Spider webs are on my orchids every morning. Does any one have a home remedy for keeping them away? I am trying various insecticides but they are not really working. So any safe homemade concoctions that you have tried and found it worked I would love to hear about it. Thanks in advance.

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by englandfx

So let me get this right... You acquired you phal keiki basically june/july of 2011, and it is now february 2012. So roughly your plant is about 7 or 8 months old.

Now with reasoning, and logic, and my database of information; it is near impossible for a phal to produce a flower spike at 7 months in age. Phals take at least 2 or 3 YEARS to produce spike from when they are a keiki.

This then makes me conclude, your picture is photoshopped.

I was going to state the same as Brooke, but she beat me to it and did a better job of it also. To accuse or in your words conclude tht someone has photoshopped an image is terribly wrong IMHO. Please choose your words more carefully, no need to be negative.

[englandfx]

Ahh yes, my apologies miss musika!
This has definitely been a mind opener! :O I mean just wow! Blooming at 7 months! I don't think I can ever look at a phal the way I did before!

In this case, I couldn't believe my eyes!! LOL

[Musika]

Originally Posted by englandfx

Ahh yes, my apologies miss musika!
This has definitely been a mind opener! :O I mean just wow! Blooming at 7 months! I don't think I can ever look at a phal the way I did before!

In this case, I couldn't believe my eyes!! LOL

Its okay england. We learn new stuff everyday. Just FYI I couldn't used Photoshop if my life depended on it. LOL

[vanessa]

So seeing this, is it better to leave keikis on the mother plant rather than separating them? I have an orchid my husband just bought me and it has at least seven keikis on it from what I can tell. Never seen one like it before with so many babies at one time. It is a phal and with the prettiest purple coloring.

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by vanessa

So seeing this, is it better to leave keikis on the mother plant rather than separating them? I have an orchid my husband just bought me and it has at least seven keikis on it from what I can tell. Never seen one like it before with so many babies at one time. It is a phal and with the prettiest purple coloring.

I think it all depends. First is your plant healthy? Those keikis can sap a lot of energy from the mother plant, so if your plant is not healthy overall, then you might want to consider removing them. There are some phals that are prone to keikis, the lueddemanniana being one. I believe Brooke has one of these and the plant is amazing with all the keikis and when it blooms it blooms. I have 2 of these, one has no keikis the other has one which I have left in hopes it will one day get to look like Brookes'. If yours has several, you might want to remove one or two so you have more overall plants or give them to others.

[Brooke]

Vanessa does it look similar to this?


Phal pulchra LUR_5219 by kentucky4, on Flickr

This is Phal. pulchra and it was purchased with one plant in a pot and three keikis stabilized with stakes, growing in the air. I mounted it and this is what it looked like two years ago.

IMO, if the keikis have their own roots and leaves it is not draining the main plant. If potted I water the keiki roots each time I water the pot. I have some other Phals with keikis, some basal but some growing in the air. The mount shown gets watered daily.

Enjoy your new friend.

Brooke

[Soulcatcher157]

Wow!!!! Your little girl looks awesome!! Look at those pretty root tips!!Question. Did you use to tie her to the wood? looks like out pantyhose. Whatever it is it's doing a great job!!! Best of luck!

[Musika]

Originally Posted by Soulcatcher157

Wow!!!! Your little girl looks awesome!! Look at those pretty root tips!!Question. Did you use to tie her to the wood? looks like out pantyhose. Whatever it is it's doing a great job!!! Best of luck!

Yes I did use pantyhose, the only good use for those things. LOL A lot of people say its more gentle than fishing line.

[vanessa]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Vanessa does it look similar to this?


Phal pulchra LUR_5219 by kentucky4, on Flickr

This is Phal. pulchra and it was purchased with one plant in a pot and three keikis stabilized with stakes, growing in the air. I mounted it and this is what it looked like two years ago.

IMO, if the keikis have their own roots and leaves it is not draining the main plant. If potted I water the keiki roots each time I water the pot. I have some other Phals with keikis, some basal but some growing in the air. The mount shown gets watered daily.

Enjoy your new friend.

Brooke

Thank you Brooke. Wow! How pretty and full of roots! Mine doesn't look like yours but I am envious and just love yours.

[vanessa]

Originally Posted by syndywindy

I think it all depends. First is your plant healthy? Those keikis can sap a lot of energy from the mother plant, so if your plant is not healthy overall, then you might want to consider removing them. There are some phals that are prone to keikis, the lueddemanniana being one. I believe Brooke has one of these and the plant is amazing with all the keikis and when it blooms it blooms. I have 2 of these, one has no keikis the other has one which I have left in hopes it will one day get to look like Brookes'. If yours has several, you might want to remove one or two so you have more overall plants or give them to others.

Thank you Synda. It does seem to be healthy. You know, after I got to looking really closely at it, and my husband says the same thing, we are not sure if what I thought was a spike with babies is really a spike and part of the orchid itself. Looks like something besides the orchid could be growing in the pot too. Looks like some kind of tree limb. Is that not funny! Though I am going to be disappointed if it isn't the orchid.

Vanessa

[beezermommy]

What is holding the sphagnum moss in place...?

[Jlie]

Originally Posted by englandfx

Ahh yes, my apologies miss musika!
This has definitely been a mind opener! :O I mean just wow! Blooming at 7 months! I don't think I can ever look at a phal the way I did before!

In this case, I couldn't believe my eyes!! LOL

And here I thought you were being sarcastic!

[JudyC]

Holy cow,...I think it LOVES it's new home!! Fantastic thread to follow!

[jsehorn]

I could be wrong, but I didn't get the impression that England actually believed the picture to be shopped. I thought England was just making a joke about how quickly your plant bloomed, sooner than one might expect. It's very difficult sometimes to convey humor in plain text. I could be wrong; the comment may indeed have been accusatory, but that wasn't my impression. I mean, for what possible reason would somebody photoshop a picture to post on this forum? If it was a joke, it was certainly poorly worded, but I'm not certain that it was meant to be an accusation or insult. As many of you know, I myself have sometimes made comments which I meant to be humorous that didn't end up going over very well hahahaha

At any rate, very nicely done! I've long wanted to experiment with mounting, but haven't given it a shot yet. Your success, however, has inspired me, and I just might try it out this spring!

[pikkumyy]

awwww , seeing this thread again has made me really jealous that none of my phals have keikied, oh well, one day i'm determined

[Neil]

Awesome plant Brooke, such a healthy looking plant.