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It may be unfamiliar to many orchid lovers, but it’s something you should know about if you plan to rebloom your plant. Today, we will dive into more information about keikis and how to remove keikis from orchid stems, as well as some potting and growing tips.
An orchid keikis is simply a baby orchid that grows or develops from the parent plant. Our orchids, all of the Phalaenopsis variety, are a bit more prone to developing keikis than some other varieties.
They form naturally, but it can also happen when an orchid’s stem is trimmed, which is often done to encourage reblooming.
Keikis will often look like a flower spike when they sprout, but eventually leaves can form and then roots.
If a keiki is removed too early, it may not be strong enough to survive the transplant and grow as an individual plant. Wait until it has several small leaves and roots that are two to three inches long before you remove it. Use a sterile cutting tool to cut the cane about two inches above and below the keiki to remove it from the mother plant. To prevent fungal infection, you can apply cinnamon or another fungicide to all the areas that were cut.
Plant the keiki in a four-inch pot, and use sphagnum moss, bark, peat moss, cork, or a commercial orchid potting mix as potting medium. If you choose to use sphagnum moss, make sure that it is damp before you start potting. Fill the bottom of the pot with some moss, and then, make a ball of moss that is a little bigger than the pot and wrap it around the keiki. The moss should be tightly packed into the pot to provide good support for the keiki. As the plant matures, you may consider switching to bark as your potting medium.
Your keiki should not be exposed to too much direct sunlight right after the transplant. As soon as you see signs of growth, you can start increasing the amount of light once every few days. After your keiki is well-established and growing well, it can take the same amount of light as the mother plant.
Also, you should only add fertilizer after the leaves show signs of growth. It usually takes about two years for a keiki to become a mature flowering plant.
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