Bob,

Sounds like you have the keikies on flower spikes and not basal keikies
(those would be right at the base not 10 inches away), and it sounds like
the roots of the keikies are long enough to separate the keikies from the
mother plant.

Note: if both the mother plant and the keikie are doing well and have
healthy looking leaves, you do not need to separate the keikies if you do
not want to -- I just saw in Al's orchid greenhouse some plants that had
keikies with long roots, and the keikies had multiple spikes on them, and
all the plants were doing well. Al was commenting to me that while some
people claim that it is important to separate the keikies from the mother
plant when the roots are long enough, in his experience it is not always
necessary.

If you do want to separate the keikies from the mother plant, first try
twisting the keikies off with a sharp wrist movement. If not successful,
then try cutting off the keikie, cutting the spike as close to the keikie as
possible without damaging the keikie. Then plant the keikies just like any
Phal only in small pots.

The dark brown color of the spike is normal for a Phal (though some spikes
will be more green, and others may be more purplish). The straw colored
bands are nodes, this is where a Phal might branch or bud or keikie from.
However, chances are high that the nodes on your Phal spike are no longer
active, and may not do anything else.

Since it has produced two healthy keikies, if you have any doubts about the
health of the mother plant, then I would suggest that you not only twist or
cut off the keikis, but also cut off the flower spike, as close to the base
as possible without damaging the base of the plant. If you cut off the
spike, the mother plant will hopefully be able to concentrate its energy on
getting healthy itself, if it is not healthy. Has the mother plant grown any
new leaves of its own recently (not keikie leaves, but leaves coming from
the center top of the mother plant's crown)? If not, then I would cut off
the flower spike and plant the keikies separately.

I hope that this answers any remaining questions on this subject. If not,
feel free to ask more.

Best,
Joanna

"Drbob92031" wrote in message
...

I don't know if the netiquette has changed in the last few years, but
last
time I checked, posting in all upper case was considered the equivalent
of
shouting, and was impolite. Did you really want to shout at us? I hope
not.

Dear Joanna:

I did not realize the caps lock was depressed. I apologize for the
unintentional loud and offensive shouting.

In response to your so detailed "how to" I
must answer you with another question

First a question: Are those keikis coming from a spike (like flowers, up
high) or from the base of the plant?

They are on spikes that originate from the base of the plant. The
keikeis
are about 10" from the base of the plnt, each with multiple leaves and
ariel
roots about 4 in number and some are longish (about 4 to 5 inches, the
roots).
The spike is dark brown in color wih a few bands of straw colored areas
going
around it.
Bob