Phal Keikis

None of my phals have ever had keikis on their spikes...even if I cut the tip. I'd certainly be happy if my phals can produce at least one!

How often do your phals have keikis (never, several times, always,etc.)? Is it true that some specific varieties of phals produce keikis more often? Has stressing your phal or using keiki paste work?

Just answering one if not all of the questions would be great! Yep, I'm the question-asker ! Thanks for any info...I'm really curious...

What I know is that the closer the plant is to its specie parent, the more its likely to produce keiki. From my experience(which is not much), I've only managed to get keikis from spike from plants that are sick or dying. Its like a last effort for the plant to reproduce before it dies.

Judging only from my own experience, I have a feeling that keiki production is more a function of a plant's genetics than its state of health. For instance, I've grown many hybrids that throw keikis on a regular basis, while others, grown under the same conditions, throw none at all. I too have heard that Phals will throw a keiki as a last-ditch effort at survival before dying, but, to be honest, I've never seen that here, so I wonder how valid it is.

The only plants here that produce keikis are healthy as horses--which makes sense to me, given the amount of energy it takes to generate them. If a dying plant produces a spike or a keiki, I think it would have produced one anyway had it been healthy. Because honestly, 99 percent of the dying Phals I've seen don't do anything other than just die, producing nothing.

So I think it's a mistake to use keiki production as some sort of "sign" telling you that a plant is on its way out. I *do* know, however, that keikis ready to root which are left on a spike will sap the mother plant's energy to the point of severely stressing it. That might give people the illusion that the mother plant was dying, and *therefore* produced the keiki, instead of the other way around: that the plant produced the keiki, which, unrooted, sapped the mother plant's strength and started causing it to go downhill.

The nodes on a Phal spike are made up of cells which can differentiate into plants or flowers, depending on the hormones present. Keiki paste contains the hormones needed to help produce new plants, so, Lily, you might try some out and see if you can't get a keiki to start.

OK. Because we are now talking about keikis and sick plant, I might as well ask question/ opinion that I had been wanting to ask since summer.

I have this beautiful phal noid that I rescued 2 years ago. After it was done blooming, I repot. Something went wrong because the plant didn't recover, instead a lot of its roots got rotten, and to make matters worse, hub moved it close to the window and burned the plant. Thats the black spots you see in the pic. After another repot, the plant finally able to grow new leaves and last month, new roots. All its old leaves are now limp and shrivelled. And this month I noticed the top node on its spike started to show some activity. The reason I left the spike is I was hoping for a keiki because I don't want to lose the plant entirely.

If this is your plant would you cut the spike now, or would you wait until you are sure the growth is a keiki or flower? Would the shrivelled leaves perk up again when the roots are stronger and able to take up more moisture? I know one or two of the lower leaves will turn yellow soon. I know some of you, if not all of you will say, "you shoul have cut the spike long ago". Well, I didn't, and is it too late now?

I know I did something dumb, scold me if you want, I'll take it, but give me some advice too and I appreciate it . Thanks in advance.

The first 2 pic is the phal and the spike at present. The third is the same phal when it was in bloom last spring.

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Tanya, first of all don't worry about not having cut the spike. It wasn't putting energy into producing flowers. Some people believe that as long as the spike is still green it may actually make food for the plant. BTW the roots in Phals are active in photosynthesis if left exposed to light, be that in a clear pot or in a basket.
Secondly, I rescued a plant at our local OS that had very limp and shrivelled leaves. Our speaker made a derogatory remark when wrapping the leaves around his finger. Nobody wanted it, so in the end I took it home. Once replanted in moss in a basket it bloomed 6 months later and again every 6 months later. The leaves had firmed up and the plant is growing vigorously.
Don't ever take anything you hear (even from an expert, in this case a grower/dealer) for granted. It may not be worth it to them to revive an ailing plant, but your conditions and your tenacity is what counts.

Tanya, the top leaves look fine, so I think the plant will revive, especially if you put it in a place where you can keep the humidity level up. You might even try putting a clear plastic bag over the entire plant and growing it in that for a month or two. Just don't place the plant and bag where it'll get any sun or you'll cook it.

If it were me, at this point I would cut the spike. I would want the plant's energy to go into its crown, not some keiki or branch on an old spike.

Thanks for the advice guys. The bag is a great idea, I don't know why I didn't thought of that before. I decided not to cut the spike, all this talk about spike keiki had my curiosity perked up . I will bag the plant today, pot and all. Wish me luck.

Root rot? I'm going to put my phal into a bag too. I thought it was getting better by growing new roots and all, but now the older roots are continuing to rot. So the phal is extremely droopy and looks dehydrated. It's been misted daily (leaves and roots) for the past several months (this phal has gotten root rot since April/May of this year). I guess that didn't work out too well , so I'm going to bag it and see how it works.

Good luck, everyone who tries "bag the orchid"!

Just a reminder Lily, don't forget the fungicide before bagging the plant . Good luck !

OK, thanks! Good luck to you, too!

Should rooting hormone be used? I've heard of soaking root rotted orchids in it...