Dendrobium Keiki update

Earlier this year, I shared with you a post about a Dendrobium nobile keiki I have in my collection that was given to me by a family member. The keiki has a sibling which was kept by said family member. Both orchids are still alive (hurray!) however, my keiki is not growing as I was expecting him to.

For comparison, the sibling keiki has produced a new cane that is double the size of the original one taken from the mother plant. It has also grown healthy roots and shows little sign of letting up next year. I thought originally that my keiki was not receiving enough light, so I moved him to our kitchen windowsill, which receives a more light during the day than its previous location. No new growths. I provided more fertiliser. No new growths. That eye at the base of the cane has not moved one little bit! The other day, he also dropped one of his lower leaves. I swear he’s taunting me!

So, my keiki has produced no new canes this year. He just doesn’t want to know about it. That frustrates me slightly. BUT. Unlike his sibling keiki, he has been working hard on his root system. I have never seen an orchid produce so many roots in a single growing season! When I first acquired him, he had six roots that were about 3 inches long and could just be seen poking through the media.

Now look at him! I am hoping that with such a huge root system, he’ll start to push out a new growth next year.

As I said, he’s been living on my kitchen windowsill for last few months as this gets better light than where he was before. Again, unlike his sibling keiki, I noticed the other day that he is starting to create tiny bumps which I can only hope are going to be flowers.

It just goes to show how different orchids can be, even when they have come from the same plant!

Happy growing!

Clare