Phalaenopsis Keikis

     The larger keikis on my noid phal are now about 3 months old.  I still see no sign of roots emerging from these baby plants, but the leaves have been steadily growing in size.  I trimmed back the spikes above where the keikis were emerging, mostly for aesthetic benefit.  The upper parts of the spikes seemed unlikely to grow any more since all the nodes had been used up in the flowering last summer.

     In addition to the trimming, I used scissors to expand the drainage holes in the plastic pot.  I didn't like how the potting media was taking more than a week to dry out between waterings (the root health of this plant is mediocre currently).  By enlarging the drainage holes and taking the plastic pot out of the larger decorative pot, I am hoping to increase the air circulation near the phal's roots.

     Meanwhile, the nodes below the big keikis are slowly growing on all three spikes.  I still can't tell what these are yet, although I won't be surprised if these turn out to be even more keikis.

   I've been thinking about what to do with these 3-6 new orchids once they're big enough to separate from the mother plant.  I'd like to try growing one of them as a mounted orchid, another in vase culture, and maybe pot the rest of the plants into one joint pot.  This way I can experiment with different culture techniques on plants I am not too emotionally attached to (or financially vested in), and learn whether my apartment's conditions can support those types of growing styles.