Process of Orchid Cloning

Keikis

• Keiki is Hawaiian for "baby," and keikis are baby orchid plants that form on the stems of certain orchids like phalaenopsis and dendrobiums. The tiny plants are complete, exact copies of the parent plant and will produce an identical orchid if allowed to mature on the parent plant. Wait to cut keikis until they have formed a root system and have two or three leaves. They can then be removed, planted in their own pots and nurtured to blooming size.

Back Bulb Propagation

• Back bulbs or pseudobulbs are the segmented canes of some orchid species that have a fat, bulbous section which stores water and nutrients. Pseudobulbs will re-root in damp sphagnum moss if you trim them with a sterile blade when grooming an overgrown orchid plant. Keep the moss-wrapped sections in a warm place, and plant them in orchid potting medium when they begin to sprout. The pseudobulbs will form identical plants to the original and be ready to flower in several years -- perhaps as long as three to five years to maturity.

Meristem Culture

• Meristem culture, also known as tissue culture or mericloning, involves sophisticated and sterile lab conditions and is normally used by commercial growers to produce exact copies of successful flowering plants. Tissue culture, although requiring a substantial initial investment, provides inexpensive phalaenopsis for sale in supermarkets and garden shops. But, it is also used in research labs and arboretums like the Atlanta Botanical Garden to create more genetic stock of endangered plants, some of which may be reintroduced into wild habitats. The process uses a bit of orchid tissue contained in a sterile culture inside a closed vessel. Conditions of light and temperature are strictly controlled. When the cloned tissue develops into plants, the tiny plants are separated and grown large enough to replant in their own pots, where they are raised to flowering maturity.

Division

• The most basic way to obtain a clone from an existing orchid plant is to divide it. Cut the plant, using a sterile blade, in two or more sections. Each section should have a healthy root system and a new stem or about three back bulbs or pseudobulbs, depending on type of orchid. Replant the divided sections in new medium in sterile pots, and monitor light and water as they re-establish. Newly repotted orchids prefer light watering while they adjust to the shock of transplant. A single-stem orchid that is leggy -- with top leaves and a long, bare lower stem -- may be cut below the leaves and a node on the stem that has several healthy roots. The original, now topped, plant and the repotted top section will form two new plants. Divided plants may flower in as little as one season. The best time to divide orchids is when new growth starts at the beginning of the flowering season, typically in spring.