First, I was repotting my four paphs I got from Woodstream this weekend and was amazed by the roots. I think all of them came from Papa Aroha in NZ (not sure about my Winston Churchill, but the other 3 definitely did). I haven't had paphs with this good of roots, they look like Heather grew them :-) Just had to post a pic of one - and these are the good roots, not a rotted one in the pic.

Paph Kimura's Present 'Papa Aroha' x Sunline 'Tony'

http://www.wiredstrategies.com/flowers/paphroots.jpg

I'm not sure if the pic does it justice - there are a ton of roots there and not a rotted one among them. I know there was a discussion in the other thread about Woodstream, but get there now and grab those paphs from Papa Aroha :-) And interestingly, they used a hefty amount of diatomite and hydroton pellets mixed in with chc and perlite in their mix.

Now here's my question. Rob was so kind as so trade me some of his Maudiae "The Queen", and it's doing something I've never seen before. There are new fans, keikis I guess, growing from the stalk that I think the flower was on. It's the weirdest thing - well, weird for a paph anyway, or so I thought before now. Looks like what you'd see growing on a phal spike.

Anyway, so what exactly do you do with those fans? I asked Rob privately, but then thought others might be appreciate learning what to do as well. Do you leave them on, hoping they get roots?

Thanks, JOHN

PS And may I just say, Rob rocks. The plant he sent me is simply gorgeous.

John - first off, I'm totally jealous of your 'Queen' trade. :cheeky:

Secondly - never heard of this paph keiki-ing - could you post photos please?

Thirdly - okay you guys, cut it out! I am so not the grower! First Tadd addresses my package w/ (OG) in the address, and now John is at it too? Seriously roots that are that good tend to arrive to me that well grown - not having much to do w/ me. I always get totally anxious repotting that they'll all have disappeared - so far I have been lucky - but I have my strugglers for sure!!!

Ok, here are the photos. And, I've seen enough of your photos to know that you grow a scary set of paph and phrag roots :-)

First an overall shot of the plant, note the fans growing on the spike or stalk or whatever it is

http://www.wiredstrategies.com/flowers/paphkeiki2.jpg

Then a close-up. They don't appear to have any roots or anything yet, so no idea what will come next. I suspect Rob knows, but like I said, I figured this would be new for others too, so thought I'd share.

http://www.wiredstrategies.com/flowers/paphkeiki1.jpg

That's awesome!

Hey, it really is from Rob! :poke: Cute tags you have their Littlefrog!
Anyway - that is utterly bizarre - never seen anything like it! Reminds me of those (damned) besseae climbers....awefully high up though!

I cannot wait to hear what others have to say on this! Cool, but weird!

(thanks for the props....still, I'm insecure - but thanks all the same, John!)

Very nice looking plants with great looking roots! :clap2:

Thanks for the gratuitous shot of my plant tag... *grin*

Actually those 'keikis' aren't on a flowering stem. This plant, like so many others with lawrencianum in the background (50% in this case) tends to grow elongated fans. The only way to describe it is like a little palm tree, a fan on a stalk. My insigne v. sanderae does it too... I think it might be cultural, at least in part, since this plant ("The Queen") does it some years and not others.

Anyway, I cut off one of the fans just above the top keiki. And it is trying again.... Cute. John has my 'mother' plant, I have five of these keikis (if a mature fan at 10+ inches is a 'keiki'). But none of them had roots yet. So I sent him the one with roots. The keikis are all in 3.5" pots with sphagnum. A couple have tried to bloom (but I didn't let them). I'd rather have roots than flowers....

Thanks for the gratuitous shot of my plant tag... *grin*

Actually those 'keikis' aren't on a flowering stem. This plant, like so many others with lawrencianum in the background (50% in this case) tends to grow elongated fans. The only way to describe it is like a little palm tree, a fan on a stalk. My insigne v. sanderae does it too... I think it might be cultural, at least in part, since this plant ("The Queen") does it some years and not others.

Anyway, I cut off one of the fans just above the top keiki. And it is trying again.... Cute. John has my 'mother' plant, I have five of these keikis (if a mature fan at 10+ inches is a 'keiki'). But none of them had roots yet. So I sent him the one with roots. The keikis are all in 3.5" pots with sphagnum. A couple have tried to bloom (but I didn't let them). I'd rather have roots than flowers....

(Nice to put the face w/ the smirk! :poke: *grin*)

Um, I don't get it. So you are saying none of your "divs" of this have roots, but you have one that is 10+"?

I don't get it. I'm dumb, I admit it, but still...um...unsure!

thnaks for clearing that up little frog and those are great looking roots! :clap:

(Nice to put the face w/ the smirk! :poke: *grin*)

Um, I don't get it. So you are saying none of your "divs" of this have roots, but you have one that is 10+"?

I don't get it. I'm dumb, I admit it, but still...um...unsure!

So... There were four or five of these little palm tree fans on sticks. On the very plant that John has. They were all around 10" ls when I cut them off. Think of it like potting down a vanda. When the lowest leaves fall off, you cut off the base of the plant and pot it down to the level of the current leaves. I've never had one of these things actually grow roots while still up in the air, like a phal might. It is too dry up there.

Presumably, after a few months of tender loving care, those root buds (you can see some in the picture) will become actual roots. If not, I'm asking for a piece back! *grin*

Regardless, I would make sure that those little tiny keikis you see on the mother plant stay on until they are good and big. Paphs don't like not having roots. A big fan is much more likely to survive than a wee little one. They will reach blooming size, and bloom, even, without leaving their high perch. It does start to look a little weird after a while though.

You are guaranteed a piece back if and when you ever have need :-) But yeah, that is weird. Maybe once they get larger I'll try some sphag wrapped around the keikis or whatever encased in a bit of plastic wrap, as you recommended, to see if that will help them root.

That is absoluteley wild! I have never seen that on a paph! Just think of all the fans you will have in a year or 2. Wow!

I've only just purchased some myself so I don't know how good it is but you could try this http://www.alphalink.com.au/~andre/paphgrow.htm to give the roots a little "hurry up".

Cheers
Stephan

Just a thought:

With a lot of plants, not necessarily orchids, it's possible to incise, put a bit of rooting hormone in the incision and then place a sphag ball over it to stimulate roots. Think it might work for this?

Just a thought:

With a lot of plants, not necessarily orchids, it's possible to incise, put a bit of rooting hormone in the incision and then place a sphag ball over it to stimulate roots. Think it might work for this?

I think that is commonly called 'air layering', and I recommended it to John in a private message. Not a bad idea. I don't usually bother with rooting hormone, sphagnum is usually sufficient, but if I don't see some roots on my divisions soon I might do that.

I think I'd wait until those keikis were a bit bigger, though, before I did anything. Besides, it is cool...

Rob

John
I now have 18 seedlings from Woodstream. Except for one, which is very tiny and I knew that, every one was well grown and well packed for shipping....no pests. They are all doing fine. I just have to be willing to wait for them to grow and bloom, which I am confident of.

They also send a freeby each time and my freebys are also doing well.

I am VERY pleased with their service and their plants. You may need to wait a while for shipping but they inform you of this and e-mail you when they are being shipped.

Grandma