Please see attached picutes of my very reliable, beautiful orchid that seems to be reproducing itself. I have had this orchid (unknown type) for about 5 years and it has rarely been without flowers. The flowers are hot pink and form on a long graceful stem - a dozen or more. But now the main plant seems to be on it's last legs and it has produced these new plantlets hanging on the stems. When and how do I plant these? And what type of orchid is this? Orchid sites so often have pictures of the flowers but not of the whole plant so identification is difficult.
It's a dendrobium hybrid of some sort. The keikeis usually form in response to cultural conditions (temperature & humidity) that are outside the requirements for a flowering cycle. In dendrobiums, especially D. nobile hybrids, that usually means it's too warm & moist during the winter months. I would pot them up separately once they have matured one cane & the growth of the second is just starting (best time for new root formation). Simon
Hi Pamela, I am a new member on the forum, but not new to orchids. It is not going to be possible to identify your plant until it blooms, and even then a lot of dendrobium hybrids look very similar, and cannot be reliably identified. Dendrobiums like bright light. They are not impossible to grow inside, but will not grow their best under low light conditions. When a dendrobium isn't getting enough light, it will usually start putting off keikis. This is one of the symptoms, but is not definitive since some dendrobium breeding lines are more prone to this than others. If you are growing it indoors, it needs to be grown as close to a South or East window as possible. with at least a sheer curtain to block out the direct sun. It also looks like you have it growing in sphagnum moss. Dendrobiums are very insistant that their roots have a chance to dry out in between waterings. It is very hard to do that with sphagnum. It will grow better in a coarse bark mix (maybe with some sponge rock and charcoal added), which will give it good enough drainage to make the roots happy. Don't be afraid to knock a plant out of the pot to check the condition of the roots. If they rot away, the plant will die (hopefully after putting out a few keikis in desperation to reproduce itself). The largest keiki is ready to be potted up on its own. It is a seedling and must be treated as one. Put it in a seedling mix or a bark mix that will have good drainage, and will hold a little more moisture than the course mix. Water it once a week, and monitor its growth so that you can make ajustments to your care. Glen
Thanks for the answers and great info Glen, I have already separated the keikis (unfortunately all of them) and the largest is doing pretty well, the middle size one, approx 2 inches, is hanging in there and the last apppears to be a casualty of my ignorance. Mama is on her last legs. I didn't have her potted in moss but in the bark/rock mixture but had just recently repotted and added the moss around the top for appearance only. Perhaps my big mistake. Before repotting it did sometimes get watered a lot but was doing great. I do need to get a seedling mix for the little ones as you suggest. See attached picture for a photo of it in bloom. I have it in a west facing window so it gets lots of light but do keep the blinds tipped a bit so it doesn't get burned by the sun. Sure do hope I can grow this generation to bloom. Pam
