orchids from Keikis

We have all seen the common 'Spider Plant' which grows new plants along adventitious out shoots. The Phalaenopsis plant does a similar trick but along the flower spike where side shoots or buds may have developed. If you examine a Phalaenopsis flower spike you will notice along it's length approximately 2 to 3 small bracts (nodes) which are held tightly to the main stalk. Under normal circumstances these small bracts will remain just that, small bracts and are often overlooked. When a Phalaenopsis has finished flowering you can cut the flower spike back to just above one of these 'nodes' to induce a fresh flower spike to develop from it.

A keiki is a small plant which grows from one of the nodes along the stem instead of a branch. The reason for this is the accumulation of growth hormones at that point, this can be either natural (as in this case) or it can be induced by the application of keiki paste which is concentrated form of the correct growth hormones.

Orchid Keiki on Phalaenopsis orchid © 2000 Orchid-Guide.com

Plants produced using this method will be duplicates (again actually the same plant) and you can leave them in place until they have a good root system and maybe two or three leaves. At this point they can be removed and potted on, flowering size plants can be obtained within two years using this method.

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Keiki Propagation	How to propagate orchids using the keiki method, usually Phalaenopsis orchids We have all seen the common 'Spider Plant' which grows new plants along adventitious out shoots. The Phalaenopsis plant does a similar trick but along the flower spike where side shoots or buds may have developed. If you examine a Phalaenopsis flower spike you will notice along it's length approximately 2 to 3 small bracts (nodes) which are held tightly to the main stalk. Under normal circumstances these small bracts will remain just that, small bracts and are often overlooked. When a Phalaenopsis has finished flowering you can cut the flower spike back to just above one of these 'nodes' to induce a fresh flower spike to develop from it. A keiki is a small plant which grows from one of the nodes along the stem instead of a branch. The reason for this is the accumulation of growth hormones at that point, this can be either natural (as in this case) or it can be induced by the application of keiki paste which is concentrated form of the correct growth hormones. Plants produced using this method will be duplicates (again actually the same plant) and you can leave them in place until they have a good root system and maybe two or three leaves. At this point they can be removed and potted on, flowering size plants can be obtained within two years using this method.	Congratulations you have now propagated a Phalaenopsis using the Keiki method.
Here's the same Keiki on 30 June 2001, as you can see it is doing well and produced a new leaf and good roots.
The same plant on 15th October 2001, it has yet another new leaf and is now well established - there's even a small flower spike starting from the base!