Here are notes prepared by the Orchid Society of NSW.

Phalaenopsis culture notes

They are warmth loving low light orchids. Plant looks in reasonable condition.

Thanks Arthur, I was wondering more about orientation? Sideways as there are so many keikis or upright as usual? I was worried about rotting or damaging the new growths.

If you pot them with the plant vertical that is fine, but they always turn towards the light so that in this room they end up at 45 degrees leaning towards the north window. (Southern Hemisphere)

I do not fight this, so if I take them to the kitchen for watering I always put them back with the same orientation.

Lillian, I am in the US, so some of this may not be practical for you, but I have always used a bread bag to root "back bulbs" and rescue orchids.

Here in the states we get bread in long slender thin plastic bags. Some of these bags have small holes already punched in them, and if they don't, I put several holes about the size of a pencil about half way the length of the bag.

Lots of our bags are clear, but I like to use bags that are translucent.

I put a hand full of wet potting mix in the bag, and drop the plant in roots down against the mix. The slender bag holds the plant upright. I tie a knot in the top of the bag and hang it under a bench, or some other not so bright place. Usually in a month or so I have a new growth started, and roots follow soon after.

I have a 4 or5 bulb back bulb division in a bag now. I checked it for the first time yesterday (its been there about 8 weeks) and there is a good new growth already started. I put a bit more water on the mix, and sealed it back up.

Bill

Lillian does not have a back bulb.

Those could be roots. I would pot that plant in a pot with small bark and sphag. Pot the plant to the top of the 'large roots.' Soak well and put the plant in a good bright window. Keep in a warm room and see what you get. That's about all you can do at this point.

You should pot this Phal now. Spring heals all troubles!

Good luck,

Jane

I'm pretty sure that they are not roots. They have grown more since the last photo. But I will do as you say and pot it up. Strangely the left most growth almost looks like the start of a flower spike!? Will pot it and wait and see.

I will try the bag method if I come across any more rescue plants.

Thanks for the responses.

They certainly don't look like roots, and they don't look like spikes, either. They DO look like keikis ... but wow, it would be quite something to have THREE keikis at once coming off of a phal!

If it were mine, I'd lay it in a smaller pot on a bed of small bark and/or loose sphagnum, so to keep the area around it humid but not wet. I'd put it at a 45 degree angle, so those things, whatever they are, can grow and hopefully become more identifiable! If they were keikis, you're looking at 2-3 years of growing their own roots before they can be independently potted.

It looks exciting, keep us posted!

Thanks for the responses. In fact it also looks like there are 2 similar growths on the other side but they have not developed as well. I did not know that you could separate basal keikis from the mother plant?! I will ask how to do this if we get that far.... The poor mother plant has 1/2 a leaf and one new leaf growing. Fingers crossed... I've never had luck with rescue/sick phals in the past.

Some will make basal keikis, others never do. Bought Phal. Hsinying Maki 'Shot Gun' from an orchid nursery and it grew three basal keikis. In good growing conditions keikis will make roots and when they get large enough they are easily separated from the mother plant.

Phals are easy!!!!!!! Provided you get the temps and the shading right, they should be much easier there across the little pond than here.

I'd wait until they get quite a bit bigger before even considering repotting it. In fact, I would wait until the keiki spike sprouts a couple leaves and some air roots first. I would just put the original plant back in a clean pot of similar size it came in with fresh orchid medium and place in a warm, bright spot (no sun), mist it every few days and wait. When the plant has a chance to get situated and healthy, and the keiki are bigger, you can snip off the keiki and pot those up, and then repot the original orchid into a better pot. Your plant is in decent shape, but stressed, so I'd be inclined to let things settle first before doing anything. I have never bothered much with orientation, the plant will grow however it wants. In the natural, they're tree huggers and hang any which way. In culture, we stick them in pots and ask them to grow upright. Mine do grow upright, but then they also grow sorta sideways too. It's just the nature of the beast.

Basal keikis will eventually grow their own independent root system, and over time that will lead to a physical separation from the mother plant. The orchid below is a mother and keiki. I have no plans to separate them at the moment; they are small phals and fit together in the pot just fine. The keiki (now 4 years old) is growing its first spike! Oddly, the mother plant did not. But then, it typically starts a spike in February and blooms in April.

Yea defitnatly those are flower spikes or keikeis , what ever you do don't let that crown rot ,so I would beware of spagnum and coir as they hold to much moisture .and block out air , A dry bark mix with perlite or sponge rock and charcoal kept moist in a humid environment with good air circulation .would suffice if wanting to pot up regularly .

But to cover all basis I will simply use a mixture of spagnum moss and a bark mixture as mention before mixed together and moistened with water and diluted fertilizer , lay media down in a rectangular fixture kind of like a small terrarium and then lay the orchid on top of moist media cover it making sure the top have vent holes mist every now and then and then allow a small fan to circulate and blow directly on low . That would be the perfect scenario .

if you don't have neither main thing is air circulation , I've reached this point and failed due to rot and not enough air circulation . Lay media out on tray spag n bark mix keep moist and lay phal down on top , is all it need in a well ventilated area with moderate indirect sun light. Good luck .

Lillian, I have never been to the North Island, so I do not know for sure, but I suspect your US cold hardiness zone is 10b. You should put it in your id. so that people replying to your posts have a little bit more info. to go on.

Not that 10b is the be all or end all. Florida 10b is a very different to Sydney 10b but it is better than no info.

Thanks for all the information. I will try to look after this plant and let you know how it goes. This is my second keiki ever! The first one didn't fare so well....

Congratulations keikes and a flower spike ,keep doing what your doing!! Later on you might want to start giving it some food very lightly and weekly /weakly is the terms! Happy for you!

Thanks!! No flower spike but still very pleased. As I've never managed to revive an orchid or grow a keiki this is quite the achievement ;-)