Making babies

I guess this would be considered a breeding topic. A month ago I decided I wanted to get some of my phalenopsis to make keikis. I did some research to see if there was a way to initiate them. I found a few products that I though I would give a try. The first is KeikiPro. I got a small bottle of this and gave it a try on a couple orchids. I got mixed results but so far I am happy with the results I got. I tried it on a Phal that I have that didn't want to bloom this year. It started a spike in Nov but stopped growing while it was still just a nub. I put keikipro on that nub and around the base of the leaves to try to get some of the aventious nodes to form keikis. What I got was 4 spikes initiating. One formed out of the old nub and three new ones. I also noticed that there are some small growths several leaves down that look like they may also be spiking. I have only gotten a max of 2 spikes out of my phals so needless to say I am quite happy. Here are some pictures of that Phal. I also tried this around the base of the leaves on two other phals but no results yet. I tried it on a backbud of a cat I have and nothing there either. I also bought KeikiGrow KeikiRoot and BloomBooster. I have gotten better results from these. I have not yet used Keikiroot. I used KeikiGrow on 3 nodes of a spike on a different phal annd now have three growths. They are not differentiated enough for me to tell wether they will be keikis of spike branches yet. The last picture is of those. I used bloombooster on a few nodes of other phals and sure enough I have gotten growths that look as if they will turn into spike branches. I will post a few other pictures of these in a seperate post as i can only put 4 pics. Sorry for the poor photography but i didn't feel like hauling out my good equipment and setting up lights so i just used the point and shoot. Has anyone else experimented any with getting keikis? What where your results? I would really like to be able to get 3-4 growths going on some cats with hopes that they wouls all bloom. I hope I get better results from Keikigrow with the next Cat I try.

a few more of the bloom booster results and some of the stuff I have in bloom at the moment

I tried on four of my ghost seedling result all death. I try on other but the roots got burned very bad. Did you mix it with water before you applied it to the plant or you applied it at full strength.

on all of my experiments I tried at full strength.

If you want to have keikis instead of shoots/brands after applying hormone, you put the plant in dark or extremely low light for a week.
Most of weed killers are high concetrate hormone solution. Too much hormone could kill your orchid. Apply a tiny amount hormone to see your orchid is ok or not then apply more.

Yep I put one of them that I was trying to get Keikis on into a dark closet for 10 days so I hope that what I am seeing turns into keikis. some others I was trying to get branches.

Hi

It looks like you are certainly succeeding in getting more spikes. Whilst I would be very excited at that level of success, I would also be concerned that the number of spikes growing on the first phal would be detrimental to it's health. It does take a lot of energy to produce and maintain these flowers, and your plant may suffer. I am sure you are going to keep an eye on them though, and that you will notice if the plant starts to look stressed.

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Kerry
Getting obssessed and loving every minute of it....

Wow! I am really impressed with the results, even if they are all spikes and not keikis. I'm gonna have to get some of that stuff and try it on my phals that didn't spike, and on one that I would like to get a couple babies from.

Now - didn't I see keiki paste on Orchid Bids????

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Diane

"NA BEAN DO'N CHAT GUN LAMHAINN"

Just an update. I now have 6 spikes on this pal and one is branching. I am keeping a close eye on it for any signs fo stress. I will keep you posted.

Yup, and someone snapped it up.

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Steven