Hi all
I'm not very knowledgeable about orchids so I thought I would ask the
'experts' here! I was given an orchid plant about 2 1/2 years ago, it has
done fairly well with several new flowers over that time, The stems have
been cut back when they were obviously dead. My question is, the plant has
now produced 2 long grey shoots and one short grey shoot from halfway up one
of the stems. I am assuming these are roots? One goes up, pointing into the
air! the other long one is heading downwards and is now level with the
bottom of the pot. There is no sign of roots trying to get out of the pot
itself! What do I do with these roots? It has been suggested I put the end
of one of these roots into another pot, just like you would a strawberry
plant 'runner'. Is this correct? I do apologies but I don't know what type
of orchid, but it was purchased from a standard DIY store, not an orchid
specialist. It has the standard looking pink/mauve flowers.

Two things. One, is it possible for you to post a picture of this plant at
alt.binaries.pictures.orchids?

Failing that, can you give us a detailed description of the plant? It's
really difficult to help without having an idea of which type of orchid you
have.

Diana

Hi RaT: I'll hazard some guesses, but as Diana said, they are just guesses
without a lot more info.

My first guess is that you have either a Phalaenopsis or a Dendrobium. If
it has long, low leaves with the inflorescence standing much higher, it's
probably a Phal.; if it has several more-or-less upright growths, each of
which have (or had) multiple leaves, it's more likely a Dendrobium. If
it's a Den, please take a close look and make sure the roots you're seeing
originated "up high" rather than travelling up one of the growths and then
branching out from there.

Either way, if all you have so far is roots coming from high up on either
the flower stem of a Phal or one of the growths of a Den, there's nothing
you should do for now besides making sure they get wet when you water the
main plant. And, ideally, sprayed with fertilizer when you feed the main
plant. With luck, you'll see little leaves/growths coming from the source
of these roots.

If it is in fact either a Phal, with roots eminating from a flower spike, or
a Den. with roots forming way above the pot, then my second guess is that
your plant is probably making what we call a keiki (Hawaiian for "baby").
If and when you have a couple-three growths or leaves, to go with those
roots, you may remove and pot it separately if you wish. However, we find
(esp. with the Phals) that these keikis will mature and bloom faster when
left attached to the mother plant.

Hope this helps, Kenni


"RaT" wrote in message
...
Hi all
I'm not very knowledgeable about orchids so I thought I would ask the
'experts' here! I was given an orchid plant about 2 1/2 years ago, it has
done fairly well with several new flowers over that time, The stems have
been cut back when they were obviously dead. My question is, the plant has
now produced 2 long grey shoots and one short grey shoot from halfway up
one of the stems. I am assuming these are roots? One goes up, pointing
into the air! the other long one is heading downwards and is now level
with the bottom of the pot. There is no sign of roots trying to get out
of the pot itself! What do I do with these roots? It has been suggested I
put the end of one of these roots into another pot, just like you would a
strawberry plant 'runner'. Is this correct? I do apologies but I don't
know what type of orchid, but it was purchased from a standard DIY store,
not an orchid specialist. It has the standard looking pink/mauve flowers.

The orchid is similar to the one the right in this picture
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc/image...orchids-1.jpeg

and this one
http://www.windycityart.com/recent/o...20painting.jpg

hope this may help to identify it

Okay, the first picture (plant on the right) is a Dendrobium. The second
picture is a Phalaenopsis. They need very different culture from one
another. After going back and re-reading your original post, I'm betting you
have a Dendrobium.

Kenni mentioned keikis. I have Dendrobiums which throw off keikis all the
time, so that could be what you;re seeing. I'd wait to see what develops.
When you water/fertilize, be sure to include those growths.

Let us know what happens!

Diana

RaT,

Part of the problem is that the flowers of the Phalaenopsis orchid resemble
those of the Dendrobium Phalaenopsis orchid -- yes there is a kind of
Dendrobium that is called a Dendrobium Phalaenopsis, but it is still a
Dendrobium and not a Phalaenopsis. Pretty confusing for beginners, since
Phals and Dends require different care.

When trying to determine whether you have a Phal or a Dend, pay attention to
the leaves and not the flower. Do the leaves all come out from approximately
one central point (called the "crown")? If yes, it is a Phal. Or do the
leaves seem to come out from different points along "canes" -- a stem sort
of like a bamboo cane only thicker than bamboo. Not sure whether I am
describing this well, but: There is basically a kind of stem that the leaves
grow out of and there may well be more than one such stem with leaves.
Whereas a Phal is going to just have leaves (and if you plucked off all the
leaves there would be almost nothing left -- don't do that, by the way. :-)
The following links include drawings or photos of Phalaenopsis and
Dendrobium -- pay attention to the leaves and not the flowers when looking
at these drawings and photos, and see whether your plant looks like one of
them. These links also include culture information for how to care for these
once you establish which it is.

Phalaenopsis
http://www.canadianorchidcongress.ca...laenopsis.html
or
http://www.aos.org/aos/uploadedfiles...lturephals.pdf
or
http://www.gflora.com/index.php?cmd=...y&genus_id=202
or
http://www.infojardin.com/plantas_de...alaenopsis.jpg

================================================== ===============
Dendrobium
http://www.canadianorchidcongress.ca...endrobium.html
or
http://www.aos.org/aos/uploadedfiles...redendrobe.pdf
or
http://www.gflora.com/index.php?cmd=...y&genus_id=183
or
http://www.infojardin.com/plantas_de...dendrobium.jpg

I hope this helps.
Best,
Joanna

"RaT" wrote in message
...
The orchid is similar to the one the right in this picture
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc/image...orchids-1.jpeg

and this one
http://www.windycityart.com/recent/o...20painting.jpg

hope this may help to identify it

RaT,
In addition these pages might help you determine whether you have a keiki
(baby plant or plantlet) and what to do with it.

Phal keiki (image and instructions)
http://www.easyorchids.co.uk/site/content/view/30/71/

If you do have a Phal keiki, you do not have to separate it from the mother
plant. As long as both plants are healthy, you might consider leaving the
keiki connected to the mother plant for a while. If the roots of the keikie
start to dry out, you could make a sock out of a piece of pantyhose and fill
it with potting media, and water it there without necessarily separating the
two plants for a while. The keikis look kind of cool attached to the mother
plant, in my opinion. Plus as Kenni recently responded to a post about a
phal equestris keiki of mine:

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
In our experience, that keiki will also bloom sooner, still attached to
"mom," than if it had been removed and potted up "on its own." When mom
and
child both bloom at the same time, it's a really great display. Kenni

I am not sure whether Kenni's reply would apply to all Phals though -- phal
equestris which Kenni's reply referred to is a very small plant, whereas
many other types of Phal need to get much bigger before they are flowering
size. However, I think that even the bigger Phal's keikis could benefit from
being left attached to the mother plant longer.

-----------------------
Dendrobium keiki
image http://rv-orchidworks.com/orchidtalk...ead.php?t=2766
instructions http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/ces/yard/1996/111196.html

These instructions seem to suggest that it's better to separate the
Dendrobium keiki early (?). I don't have personal experience with
Dendrobiums (most of my orchids are Phals), and thus I do not know about
this.


Hope this helps.
Best,
Joanna

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:Wji4f.3765$W32.1189@trnddc06...
RaT,

Part of the problem is that the flowers of the Phalaenopsis orchid
resemble
those of the Dendrobium Phalaenopsis orchid -- yes there is a kind of
Dendrobium that is called a Dendrobium Phalaenopsis, but it is still a
Dendrobium and not a Phalaenopsis. Pretty confusing for beginners, since
Phals and Dends require different care.

When trying to determine whether you have a Phal or a Dend, pay attention
to
the leaves and not the flower. Do the leaves all come out from
approximately
one central point (called the "crown")? If yes, it is a Phal. Or do the
leaves seem to come out from different points along "canes" -- a stem sort
of like a bamboo cane only thicker than bamboo. Not sure whether I am
describing this well, but: There is basically a kind of stem that the
leaves
grow out of and there may well be more than one such stem with leaves.
Whereas a Phal is going to just have leaves (and if you plucked off all
the
leaves there would be almost nothing left -- don't do that, by the way.
:-)
The following links include drawings or photos of Phalaenopsis and
Dendrobium -- pay attention to the leaves and not the flowers when looking
at these drawings and photos, and see whether your plant looks like one of
them. These links also include culture information for how to care for
these
once you establish which it is.

Phalaenopsis
http://www.canadianorchidcongress.ca...laenopsis.html
or
http://www.aos.org/aos/uploadedfiles...lturephals.pdf
or
http://www.gflora.com/index.php?cmd=...y&genus_id=202
or

http://www.infojardin.com/plantas_de...alaenopsis.jpg

================================================== ===============
Dendrobium
http://www.canadianorchidcongress.ca...endrobium.html
or
http://www.aos.org/aos/uploadedfiles...redendrobe.pdf
or
http://www.gflora.com/index.php?cmd=...y&genus_id=183
or

http://www.infojardin.com/plantas_de...dendrobium.jpg

I hope this helps.
Best,
Joanna

"RaT" wrote in message
...
The orchid is similar to the one the right in this picture
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc/image...orchids-1.jpeg

and this one
http://www.windycityart.com/recent/o...20painting.jpg

hope this may help to identify it