Tag Archives: keiki

So I raided the clearance center of my garden store, and scored a rather large and healthy NOID Phal that had finished flowering (this one was pink), and wanted to try my hand at propagation. Phalaenopsis orchids produce babies along their flower stalk rather easily. These babies, known as keikis, form in response to plant hormones, such as auxins, that build up as a plant matures.

I ordered myself some artificial hormone called Keiki Power Pro and applied it to my clearance orchid. To apply the Keiki Paste correctly, you remove one of the spike’s node covers and apply to the dormant bud.

After applying, it’s a wait and see sort of business. Dormant buds are usually already differentiated into either flower-bearing or keiki bearing cell types.

Flower bearing spike after Keiki Power Pro application:

It’s difficult to know which you’ll get, however, buds closer to the top of the stalk seem to be more likely to bear flowers. Further down, you might get a baby Phal. Sometimes you get both.

Is this going to be a keiki or flower spike?

Will update with changes to my Phal babies.