J Fortuna wrote:
.........................
If they are basal keikis, coming from the bottom of the plant, then I have
been told that one should not separate the keikies since in all likelihood
they share roots with the mother plant and may not be able to survive as
independent plants. .......................................


I would add to that, that the nature of the way Phals grow will
guarantee that that basal keikis will eventually become separate plants,
like it or not. Phals die at the bottom and grow from the top. Old
leaves eventually fall off at the bottom as new ones grow at the top.
The oldest roots die at the bottom as new ones grow farther up. When the
bottom roots die of old age, the "trunk" dies too. Eventually the dead
part moves up and and reaches the junction. At that point, the parts
will pretty much just fall apart.
Bob, don't misunderstand. When I say dead, I'm not speaking of some
disease. I'm just talking about the normal progression of the growth. It
will take some years before the parts fall apart and the new basal
growths will have had their own root systems for a long while at that
point. If you don't want to wait that long, do leave them alone until
you are ready to repot. When you are repotting the plant, you will be
able to see if there are roots on the new off shoots. If so, you can
probably just snap them off and pot them up in their own pot. I just
leave mine alone until they fall apart.

Steve