My poor Harlequin Phal after Keiki paste application

[rosie]

It is so sad fellow forum members. Just came back from 7 days over in NZ, and the mother is dying. The 2 roots on one of the keikis are approx. one and half inch. long. What should I do. The keikis are very healthy. I have wrapped damp spagnum moss around them to encourage more roots. Should I remove the orchid from pot and suspend on tree bark outside?

[rosie]

No Trish, I didn't try the paste on the mother. She was beautiful before I started trying to meddle with the chid. No more fiddling with nature.

[rosie]

Can anyone suggest what to do?

[Kassie]

The hormone to induce keiki growth is different from the hormone to produce roots. One of the keiki paste companies I looked into also had a keiki root hormone product. I know you don't want to mess with nature any more, but one of their bits of advice was to make sure all the keiki paste was wiped off of the spike and base of the keiki, as it would inhibit root growth. Like everything with orchids, there doesn't seem to be a single clear path for what to do in your situation. I have seen advice of increasing humidity to induce roots and also backing off of watering the mother to prod the keiki to support itself. Does the mother still have decent roots?

My entire collection has had an explosion of root growth since I started using liquid seaweed extract with watering. Perhaps soaking the sphagnum that you put by the keikis in some seaweed would encourage them.

I'm sorry your orchid has taken a turn for the worse. I can't see the new pictures very well so I can't tell if the mother appeared to also have crown rot. If the damage was a direct result of the keiki paste as you suspect, that definitely makes me nervous. While waiting for my crown rotted plant to fully bloom before using keiki paste on it, I "practiced" on 3 NOIDs that I have. One was already out of bloom, but I suspect the keiki paste caused blooms on the other two to die off prematurely. My keikis are only about 2cm at this point, so we shall see. I hope your keikis and mine survive our tinkering.

[rosie]

Hi Trish. Thanks for your reply and help. Yes, in the first instance I didn't wipe off the K.Paste. When I did after a month or so, 2 little roots appeared. Unfort. the mother got worse, one leaf after another died. Yesterday took orchid plant along to a nearby orchid nursery. They advised, without any leaves, the mum was doomed. Said to sever both keikis, place on a bed of dampened spag.moss, to encourage more roots. Hopefully when they do, I then can pot up. (Thanks for the Seaweed extract hint, which I did add). After emptying pot, mum had lots of roots, some dead, obviously too much water, but some where v. good. So I now have mum draped over some fern bark, spraying her roots every day. See what happens. I will keep you informed of any further developments. Will add photos of the keikis in question.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Annette, if the mom phal has roots and no leaves, you can still save her. Move her into a low light area and maintain humidity. Be careful that she doesn't stay 'wet'. You do not want to rot her roots. The old 'spag n bag' technique is called for in this instance and might just actually turn her around. Good luck!

Cheers,
BD

[rosie]

Cheers Bruce, that I will try, as I have saved 3 other Phals. with the spag & bag. They are really thriving now. So here goes.