Does anybody know if I can air layer a phalaenopsis. lm kind of new to orchids but would like to try it.

I air-layer a lot of plants but have never heard of anyone air-layering an orchid. Because of the way a Phalaenopsis grows, I don't know where you would air-layer it. I don't think it can be done, but that's only a guess. Perhaps someone has experience or knowledge about doing this with a Phalaenopsis.

I thought maybe it could be done at one of the lower buds on the flower stem

If you have a stem with a new plant starting on it, wait until there are little leaves, and roots a couple of inches long, then yes, you can 'air layer' it into another little pot.

Don't forget that orchids are mainly epiphytes, so the roots really don't collect all that much nutrient. Spraying the leaves with water, and adding a little fert to the spray water will establish it quickly. Once it's been in its own pot for a while, and keeping on growing, you can cut the stem from the mother plant. The leaves may get wrinkly for a week or two, but don't despair, it will revive.

My phals all grow with at least a portion of the roots sticking out into the air.

Thanks I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

Elaine, you and I are talking about radically different "air-layering". You are simply allowing an already rooted keiki to grow in/on another adjacent pot. I am talking about truly air-layering a plant, something I do regularly to plants like Fiddle Leaf Ficus, Narrow-leaf Ficus, and Rubber Trees. The air-layering I do makes the plant root off its stem. The keiki is a truly rooted plant formed off the stem of the Phalaenopsis. Perhaps that is what Heath is referring to - a keiki. Heath, are the pictures below similar to what you see on your plant? You'll have to click on the pictures to see the complete image. These are keiki.

Yes I wanted to make a keiki. I was going to exposed one of the buds on the stem wrap it with moss and keep it moist.

Go for it, Heath. I have never done this so we can all learn something from your experiment. My plants simply form keiki "when they want to". I have never "forced" a keiki from one of them.

Thanks I'll give it a try it was just a 5 dollar plant with dead flowers and green stems.

I love an experiment. IF it works, I will wonder why I never thought of that.

There is such a thing as keiki paste and Amazon sells it.It might just work on your Phal.

Good tip, Ursula. I didn't know that.

Jim

I have heard of that I saw it on a YouTube video but I was hoping I wouldn't have to buy anything I have Moss at the house I thought I would try that first.I just don't know if it will work.but I didn't know they sold it on Amazon I may just have to look and see how much it cost. Thanks

Heath, sometimes the 'buds' on the flower stem are new stems forming for more flowers, not necessarily a keiki. You might want to wait and see what's coming for a few weeks. Phals do start putting up new flower spikes at this time of year.

Btw, I have a jar of the keiki paste and it does work really well! But most of the keikis that I grew blasted or died, unfortunately. I think maybe I tried it at the wrong time of year, going into our brutal summer heat here. Maybe fall would be a better time. The paste is pretty expensive, too.

I used that so-called keiki paste. My results were ZERO. Like Elaine's results, IF I got anything at all, they perished. I fell for the advertisement. My bad! I will be glad to send you my left-over paste.

Phals do tend to kiki, so it should be worth a try.. it's not likely to hurt the mother plant. I think if I were going to attempt it, I would try with a nodule below the buds though, where they are inclined to branch when left to their own devices.

Ken, I actually had spectacular results with the keiki paste. Every node that I applied it to started a new plant. I put it on a bunch of my phals and also on the flower stems of a couple of my Phaius. I had keikis coming like crazy. Then April turned into May, it got hot and dry and Pffftt!! They all turned brown and died.

I think if I'd paid more attention, maybe brought them indoors to control the temperature and coddled them a bit, I might have succeeded. I still have the paste, maybe I'll try again.

This is an exciting experiment! Would you be able to post some pictures of your process, Heath?

When I get home from work today I will get started. I'm looking forward to getting results.

So I finally got around to air layering my orchid. here is some pictures of what I did if you see anything I could have done differently on let me know.


First I exposed the bud and put just a little bit of roottone on it.

and then I wrapped it up in some moss maybe it will work