kiki mount

[LouisW]

I recently acquired what I think was a dendrobium. The plant was dead and cut, but there were two tiny little kikis sprouting out of the stems. For a long time I just allowed them to remain on the mother-plant but i decided to cut them off because they didnt seem to be growing. I cut off the chunk of stem the kikis were attached to and carefully wedged it into a crack in a piece of bark I picked off a local tree. Then I put the small piece of bark in a jar and added a small amount of water in hopes the bark would act like a wick. The plants are not sitting in water but it is very wet; probably close to 100% humidity in the closed jar. Are these bad conditions for the kikis? Is this random choice of bark going to bite me later? What can i do to stimulate growth?

[digitalgate]

oh boy, you should have let the Keiki on the big cane. If the Keiki decided no to grow it
would be better off cut it away. Let the mother cane regrow another keiki. The Keiki did
not grow most likely because of poor condition.(low light, cold temperature...) now it is
winter for you. Dendrobium tend to be a little slow. Let me show you what we did to get
new plant from old cane.
[IMG][/IMG]
I live in the tropics condition is very different for you. But most people normally
will leave the keiki on to develop on it own. Otherwise keiki will take a very very long
time to reach adult stage.

[Anton]

What about if the keiki is killing the mother cane ?

I had this a few months ago, and once I removed the keiki the cane picked up and has produced 2 more keikis which I am leaving on this time, as they are close to the potting mix and throwing the roots into the mix, so will be self sufficient.

The mother cane is not showing signs of stress this time, another reason to leave the present keikis on.

The original keiki is now 10cms tall and is in a rapid growth spurt. It looks like it may be ready to flower next season.

Is this an exception to your rule, digitalgate ?

I can post images if you like.

[digitalgate]

of course if the keiki has roots about 3 inches or longer ,it is of good size to cut and pot. I
alway try to let keiki grow as big as possible so that it flowers faster.
If as you said the keiki is killing the big cane, then cut it if you will.
There is no absolute right way to do grow orchids, most people need to discover their
methods of growing orchids.
A lot of my friend in singapore grow their Phalaenopsis seedling in moss. Mine - no media
just a plastic pot. I kill so many Phalaenopsis that i decided let the small bugger decide
when it want to grow- no media, no charcoal absolutely nonthing just put on a
plastic tray and let it grow. I get better result, so who cares.

I also notice LouiseW said he leave the keiki on the cane for a long time. Most keiki will
stunned when left on the cane for too long with no long roots growth.(unable to
absorb nutrient from stunned root it has) These keiki
will remain the same size for 6 months. (what a big waste of space and time). I rather
have the big cane regrow another keiki , give very good growing condition that it
produced fantastic roots.

[digitalgate]

this was cut about 4 months back from it big cane, this is really really
slow. But that is what i could have from the other guys.This is
Dendrobium Doctor Uthai
[IMG][/IMG]
Mini Dendrobium chao praya
this was cut about 4 weeks back, look at the roots of the keiki. It has more
thicker roots compared to the first one. I dont even bother cutting
the big cane as it still providing energy for the young keiki. (resting on the
Phalaenopsis. The mother cane has no roots .


In the background are my one year old Aranda christie(yellowish ones) and
my Vanda robert delight