Keiki Question

[Bikerdoc5968]

There have recently been several posts about keiki paste and the like. This is another question about how and not when to set this little guy on its own. As you can see the roots are growing nicely and soon when they get about twice as long it will be time to part ways with mom. And that is the question....just how would you guys and gals go about parting ways. There are two more keikis growing distal to this and another more proximal. The distal ones are very small and nowhere near ready.... So the bigger one...How would you remove it? Would just cutting the spike and potting up and take the distal contributions along for the ride and hope they survive, leaving the proximal one to grow some roots???? Or would you try to take a sharp blade and sever this larger one "off" of the spike?????

[Cjcorner]

Good question...most here advise bending the spike down to a pot with spagnum, but with the number of keikei's I'm not sure that would work. Maybe you could carefully pop them off the stick when their roots get big enough.
Good Luck
Connie

[Mehera]

Aren't they cute?

I know it's advisable to remove them eventually for the sake of the mother plant, but I doubt you have to hurry to do it; why not let the distal little guys catch up a bit first?

Did you use the keiki paste to get all this activity?

[Ron-NY]

my rule of thumb is 3 roots 1" long before I remove them or 2 roots 1.5" long

To remove, I grasp the keiki between my thumb and pointer and twist. I usually do clockwise but if you are left handed counter clockwise might work better

I read somewhere that once the keikis form you are suppose to remove the past for it inhibits root growth or something like that.

[ischel1]

I agree with Lynda, Howard. Let them grow at least until the keikis are able to sustain themselves. As BD has told me in the past, 'Be Patient".

[luckygrower]

I agree with those that say to leave the kiki on until the roots are at least 1.5" long, by this time the other kiki's should start to root,but there is always the stubborn one,for them I use a product called kiki root and start to mist the kiki.

[Cjcorner]

I had a keikei awhile back taking its slow time with roots so I would dab a little water on the root-tip every morning and they began growing much faster. That and a little misting helps too.
Connie

[Brutal_Dreamer]

I like to let the roots get three inches or so long before removing. Usually, I just leave part of the spike that the keiki was growing on attached to the keiki, but since you have those two above/below this one, I suppose you will have to twist off this keiki if you want to remove it before the other two are ready.

Good luck with all of them.

Cheers,
BD