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what causes a keiki?

15 years ago

Does anyone know what naturally causes a keiki to grow? I always thought that it was just plant genetics, but recently I read that they begin growing on a plant that's under stress.

I'm asking because last night at the local orchid society meeting, a friend mentioned that she had bought a happy looking phal in spike at an orchid show a few weeks ago, and instead of blooming, it started growing keikis like crazy. Any idea what would cause this?

Thanks,

~altair

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Comments (3)

claire1_2008
15 years ago
Hi Altair,

I think you need an "all of the above" category. In "Understanding Orchids" by William Cullina, it states that "Keikis may be a sign of trouble in the mother plant - damage to the growing tips, root problems or other stresses - or it may be just a natural means of reproduction."

I bought a happy phal at the Portland Orchid show at the end of March. It had three spikes and a real bushy plant with lots of wild arial roots. It turned out that the plant appeared so full was because it had two keiki's growing from the base of the mature plant along with the three spikes.

The plant looked great but I was a bit suspicious because of all the arial roots so I unpotted it. It was planted in moss and the moss was real wet. No living roots were in the pot. I changed the medium to a med size bark and tucked in as many of the arial roots as I could without damaging them. I put it in a clear plastic pot so I can tell that the roots are growing fine now.

So far everything looks good for flower blooms on at least one spike. The other two are still too small to tell. I removed one of the keiki's while transplanting it - only because I didn't realize it was there in time.

I would think the only way to know for sure if the plant is in stress is to unpot it and take a look at the roots.
highjack
15 years ago
Altair it depends on the genetics of the plant. Some of the keiki producing phals are pulchra, luddemania, celebensis, bastiana and equestris. I've also got a javanica that has produced a keiki but that is not used very often to make hybrids. Doritis are known to produce basal keikis rather than stem keikis.

All of the above can be happy growing phals and just do what Mother Nature tells them to do. Rather than stress, it is their way of making sure their genetics are passed forward.

The only basal keikis I've ever had have been where either the plant had crown rot or a terminal root from the crown. I've heard of people having a terminal spike from the crown but I've only had the root grow out of the crown.

I recently saw a picture of a huge cork mount where the person kept every keiki his luddemania produced. The mount was blooming and it was amazing.

Brooke
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That is normal for the Epidendrum radicans and all the other reed stem epidendrums. You should see some of the unkempt old growth reed stem epidendrums all over Southern California. You might find more than 10 generations of keikis, on top of each other - not a very beautiful sight. Is it normal? Yes. Is it desirable? It depends. I find that new growths produced from the base of the plant produce more robust foliage and flowers compared to what the keikis can produce in their first blooming season. So I cull the keikis to allow the new basal growths to get all the nutrients. I would keep one keiki or two for sharing and trading, but other than that I find the keiki more of a nuisance - for this particular type of plant anyway.
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Carefully snip away pretty much all of the spike from the mother plant. I would not wrap the roots in damp moss. This will most likely cause them to rot. Plant the keiki in a small pot with bark and treat it much like you treat the mother plant. Make sure the pot is not too big.
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I'm curious.....Does the main plant not have mottled leaves? What do the flowers look like? There are a number of Phal. species that have mottled leaves, but I would expect the mother plant to exhibit this trait as well as any keikis it might produce. The dark purple under the leaves...I think I see this on both the plant and keiki...are also an indicator that you have a "short line" hybrid. ( a plant that is not but a couple of generations from species) Phal. species generally are pretty good at producing keikis without any help. I notice you put hormone paste - I presume on a node of the bloom spike - so that may be a reason your keiki is not producing roots. I've never seen one that did not have enough roots to pot up by the time they had two leaves. I've also seen Phal. schilleriana plants in full bloom with blooming keikis who themselves had blooming keikis. It was quite a sight. You probably don't have any clue as to the parentage or name of the plant you have, but be advised that many of the Phal. species have a tendency to rebloom on an old spike, so I would not cut any spikes on a species or a short line hybrid until it actually started to turn brown. Let us know what the blooms look like......I'm betting they are not as large, full, and round as most Phals. you see on the market. I would also bet on light pink for a color Bill .
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Hi arthurm2015, I'm from Romania and we currently have a hot summer with occasional rainy day. We are in a mountain area so the humidity in the air is pretty high even indoors. I water my orchids once a week and the pot has drainage holes (one simple transparent pot with drainage holes, and the white "mask" pot with no holes). I never leave water on the bottom of the mask pot just to make sure the roots don't get to much humidity and rot. I did notice on this pot that there are some small flies coming out from the soil, it may be from the mother plant that I think might be sick. Do you know what to do with these flies (small insects with 2 wings)? I don't want to contaminate my other orchids that are sitting just next to this one.
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altair
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the great responses guys! I'd have to agree with both of you - I think it's just the plant being happy and trying to pass on its genetics, but I'll pass on the recommendation to take a peek at the roots.

Thanks again,
altair

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