Phalaenopsis orchids often will grow what are called keikis. Keiki is the Hawaiian word for baby or little one, and certain orchids like Phalaenopsis and Dendrobiums often will readily produce them. In this post, I will take you along the whole process of how I pot keikis up, demonstrating with my own plants.
This post will focus on how to cut off and pot up Phalaenopsis orchid keikis that are growing on flower spikes.
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Two Types of Phalaenopsis Keikis
Keikis are identical genetic copies of the mother plant, and they can grow in two different ways.
Keikis on Flower Spikes
This post will focus on how to pot up keikis that grow on Phalaenopsis orchid flower spikes. Often times, keikis grow on old flower spikes if the plant is stressed somehow. But in my case, mine grew on a healthy plant.
Keikis can also be encouraged to grow if your Phalaenopsis has been growing in temperatures that are too high, and even if they are being grown in too little light.
Also, certain species of Phalaenopsis are more prone to growing keikis than others, so I’m guessing that in my situation, my plant had one of those species in its lineage.
You can see that there are two keikis on my orchid plant’s flower spike below and they are ready to pot up. I’ll describe how you know they are ready to pot up, and how to do it, soon.
Basal Keiki
Another type of keiki that Phalaenopsis orchids can produce are called basal keikis. These are simply keikis that form at the very base of the plant, instead of growing on the flower spike.
Sometimes they will start growing on their own, and other times, they can grow if the growing tip of the plant has been damaged. Once this happens, there will be no more new leaves growing from the center of the plant, and it causes the orchid to release hormones that trigger a basal keiki to form, like in the photo below of one of my plants.
In the photo below, I’m pointing to the basal keiki growing on one of my orchids. Right behind the basal keiki, you can see the mother plant with the damaged growing tip. I received this plant with a damaged growing tip, and a few months later, the basal keiki started to grow.
Although you can separate basal keikis, I’m going to leave these two plants together for now. And look at the beautiful display of flowers below. This flower spike is actually coming out of the keiki plant and not from the mother plant!
An easy rule of thumb to remember is 3:3:3. Three leaves and three roots that are three inches long. Now, it doesn’t have to be exactly this, as you will see with my specific case below, but it’s definitely easy to remember.
The keiki will grow straight out of one of the nodes on the orchid flower spike, like you can see below.
How to Pot Up A Keiki
Sometimes, instead of growing secondary flower spikes, Phalaenopsis orchids will start to grow keikis. Here is when I first noticed the two growing on one of my plants.
Almost 7 months later, here are what the keikis looked like.
Each keiki has three leaves, and there are two roots that are between 1-3 inches long. This is close enough for me to the 3:3:3 rule of thumb, so I’ll show you how to cut them off and pot them up next.
You may notice first that leaves will grow, and then the roots will start, but it doesn’t always happen that way, and the time that it takes for the keikis to grow big enough to pot up will vary greatly depending on your care and growing conditions. In my case, it took about 7 months.
And one last tip, try not to wait until the keikis have roots that are really long, otherwise it can be more difficult to pot them up and you may risk breaking the roots. If you leave the keikis on the mother plant’s flower spike for a long time, it will also cause the mother plant to delay flowering, so there are many benefits to cutting them off and potting the keikis up at the appropriate time.
1. Trim the Flower Spike Below the Keiki
The first thing you’ll do is trim the actual flower spike that the keiki is growing on. I like to leave about 2-3 inches of the flower spike, so you’ll trim below where the keiki is growing like I show in the photo below.
The portion of the flower spike will serve to anchor the keiki securely in the growing medium. This way, it has secure footing and won’t be wobbling around once you pot it up.
2. Dip the Cut End in Cinnamon
Next, dip the cut end of the flower spike in cinnamon. This is optional, but if you have it on hand, cinnamon is a natural antifungal agent and is helpful to use.
3. Pot up the Keiki in Sphagnum Moss
Lastly, I like to use sphagnum moss to pot up keikis. Sphagnum moss is a wonderful medium to nuture your baby orchid. I like to use Better-Gro Orchid Moss (link to Amazon).
Place some of the sphagnum moss in a bowl, add some water and let it soak for a few minutes. You may need to break up the strands of moss so that the water penetrates. After a few minutes, squeeze out the excess water, and then start wrapping the moss gently around the base of the plant, roots, and the portion of the flower spike where it was cut off. Be very gentle and careful not to break the roots.
Then simply insert the plant into a small pot. You’ll want to use the smallest pot possible that will fit the root system.
For the two keikis below, I use a 3-inch diameter pot for this one.
And I used a 4-inch diameter pot for the one in the photo below because the roots were a little longer.
Always use pots with drainage holes at the bottom. When you pot up your keikis, be careful not to bury the leaves under the moss. Depending on your growing conditions and how big the keiki was when you potted it up, it can take 1-3 years before it is big enough to grow its own flower spike after you potted it up.
If you want to learn all about how to get your orchid to rebloom reliably and have healthy, thriving moth orchid plants, don’t miss my signature, online orchid care course, Become an Orchid Master. It also includes bonuses with support from me, personally, to guide you in your orchid journey!
And if you want to watch my YouTube video, showing how I potted up these keikis, here it is:
