Question 1

On other house plants will this encourage new shoots for fuller plants if used on nodes?

Accepted Answer

Excellent question!  In general, yes.  In plant biology, there is a phenomenon known as "apical dominance".  If you know where to look, you can see this on plants everywhere you go.   When a growing tip/lead/branch on a plant is trimmed off, the lower or side nodes give rise to new branches.  Gardeners and plant growers have known this since the beginning of plant cultivation.  The reason trimming the leading growth works is that the growing tip sends a chemical signal down through the rest of the plant announcing its status as the "top dog" and SUPPRESSING growth of branches/shoots from lower nodes.  This is apical dominance in action.  Once that growing tip is cut off (or bitten off by a foraging animal), the suppression of the lower nodes is relieved, and the lower nodes can then start growing new branches/shoots.  What Keiki Power Pro does is to BYPASS or OVERWHELM the apical dominance signal by encouraging lower quiescent/resting nodes to start their growing and ignore the apical dominance suppressive signal.  Hence, new shoots!

Now Keiki Power Pro may not work with all plants as some are simply very sensitive, some get easily confused by conflicting hormonal signals, and some just don't do anything.  It's something that requires a bit of trial and error and careful testing.  When starting on a new plant type, you might use a very small amount of Keiki Power Pro at first.  Sometimes using a big dollop of it causes the node to shut down, whereas a little dab'll do ya.

Question 2

I have been very successful with phalaenopsis, but where do you exactly apply the cloning paste on dendrobium, vanda and cattleya orchids?

Accepted Answer

I have only used it on Phals and Gollom jades, I am not sure it will work on the other orchids, never tried. I t does make for some strange growth patterns,

Question 3

What happens if this is applied to an aerial root?

Accepted Answer

If applied to an aerial root, probably nothing will happen.  But, some orchid species can actually make keikis from their roots (e.g., Phalaenopsis schilleriana), so you may see something interesting happen!

Question 4

Unclear how to use this. Can someone point me in the right direction ? Thanks !

Accepted Answer

First we need to locate a node on the orchid flower stem. If you run your hands along the stalk you'll feel a bump every couple inches. These bumps are the nodes and they look kind of like joints where the stalk merges together. There are several nodes on each flower stem and each node should work with keiki paste. In my experience nodes closer to the base of the plant are more likely to result in  a keiki while nodes closer to the flowers are more likely to result in a new flower stalk so choose one, two (or three) nodes based on what your ideal outcome is.

Before adding the paste we first need to prep the node. Each node has a little bit of thin plant tissue (called a bract) covering it up kind of like a sock. The bract needs to be pushed down or removed before the paste is applied.
Use a tooth pick, tweezers or even your clean fingernails to peel off the bract. It might feel weird peeling off something on your plant, but it's just a little bit of protective tissue. You won't hurt your plant. When your done peeling you might see a bright or light green dot underneath. This dot is the node! If you don't see the dot, don't fret. You are still in the right location.
Next apply the Keiki Paste using an included disposable cotton swab. Dab a pea sized amount of paste on each node.
After applying the paste continue watering and caring for your orchid as before. It takes a few weeks before the paste starts working. After a couple of weeks you should begin to see some growth. Sometimes I'll carefully take a toothpick to push aside the paste and see if something is growing!
After a few more weeks you will have a better idea of whether you will get a new flower stalk or a new baby orchid.  A baby orchid quickly shows a couple of leaves while a flower stalk looks like a tiny fist.

Keiki Power Pro Orchid Plant Cloning Paste

Details

Description

Have a Question? See What Others Asked

Reviews

Common Questions