I've decided to use my Phalaenopsis 'Happy Girl' for a keiki-growing experiment. What is a keiki? According to the folks at RePotme orchids, it's when "an orchid plant will bear a little plantlet off of its flower stem or pseudobulb". I bought this kit from them to encourage my orchid to grow one.
The steps really are easy...
...and I had several nodes to choose from. Happy Girl has two old bloom scapes that never died back, so I chose this node that looked most like the one in the illustration. Need to make this as simple as possible for myself.
Cut the papery flap...
...there's the little green "node"...
....then I just paint this stuff on.
Now we wait. I'm to re-apply the goo every 10 days, the keiki is said to grow "in a matter of weeks". Cool!
Since I've been absent from Blogger awhile, I didn't post that I'd re-potted Happy Girl a few weeks ago. As you can see from her roots, she likes this new pot.
See the root sticking out the side? This pot provides a lot of air circulation, and when the roots stray you can just guide them back into the pot.
The design is pretty wild, and they have several colors at RePotme where I bought it. I like that it lets the roots get enough air so an over-waterer like myself can't cause much harm.
Her roots were fairly bunched up in the old pot, and there were some dead areas to trim off.
Holy root-bound, batman!
Better! There was a slight learning curve with watering in this pot, I've settled on about once a week (although I do consult my moisture meter to be sure).
Here's hoping she's happy enough that the keiki grows!
