Looking for clarification on basal keiki

[Karen00]

Hello folks,

I've been growing Phals for years but have never had a keiki until now. The Phal is a mini and it's doing wild and wonderful things this summer. It gave me a new floral branch off an old spike and then a couple months ago it started to give me what I thought were three new flower spikes.

Two of them progressed into flower spikes but the third one which was near the bottom stopped growing at about 2". From the angle I normally look at the plant it looked like a stalled spike (it looked like the usual "mitten" at the tip). Finally a couple days ago I turned the plant around to inspect the growth and that's when I noticed the leaf.

The location of this growth is near the base but up above the two bottom leaves.

All the pictures I've seen of basal keikis seem to show them coming out from the roots and the leaves look like they're erupting from the roots. They don't look like they're on any sort of spike.

So my question is... What constitutes a basal keiki?

Is it any new vegetative growth near the bottom that doesn't come from a flower spike?

I have attached a couple pics of mine. As you can see it sits higher up from the base and is on what looks like the start of a flower spike but is somewhat different.

Is this still considered a basal keiki because it never formed a true flower spike and is near the bottom or would this be considered a regular keiki?

As a side note I looked at it again today and it loos like a new leaf is emerging from within the furled leaf so it's not just producing one leaf.

If more information or pics are needed let me know.

Thanks.

[Roberta]

A "basal keiki" is just a new growth. The mother growth is likely to continue to flower, now you have another source of flowers in a year or so. So the plant is getting ready to put on an even better show. One can get keikis on flower spikes (some parents of the minis, like Phal equestris, do this a lot) but the basal growth is another way for the plant to get bigger. Remember, Phals are "monopodial" meaning that they have one growth point (the crown) and just get taller rather than spreading along a rhizome like the sympodial orchids (like Catts and Oncidiums) do. But that vertical growth does tend to have a limit.. at some point the crown will stop growing, so those basal growths are one of the ways that the plant can keep going, and may produce a nice clump.

[Karen00]

Originally Posted by Roberta

A "basal keiki" is just a new growth. The mother growth is likely to continue to flower, now you have another source of flowers in a year or so. So the plant is getting ready to put on an even better show. One can get keikis on flower spikes (some parents of the minis, like Phal equestris, do this a lot) but the basal growth is another way for the plant to get bigger. Remember, Phals are "monopodial" meaning that they have one growth point (the crown) and just get taller rather than spreading along a rhizome like the sympodial orchids (like Catts and Oncidiums) do. But that vertical growth does tend to have a limit.. at some point the crown will stop growing, so those basal growths are one of the ways that the plant can keep going, and may produce a nice clump.

Thank you so much Roberta! I appreciate the speedy reply and for clarifying basal keikis are considered to be new growth regardless of how the growth is formed.

I'm torn as to whether I want this to get its own roots. Given it's on a short spike it would be easy to separate from the mother if it got its own roots if I chose to do that however if I decided to leave it all those extra roots would make it look a little messy even tough it's fuller. If it didn't get roots then it would look nice and tidy and bushy but I could never separate it to get a new plant.

No matter what happens though it's exciting! :-) I just hope it grows out OK. It's coming out in an awkward place and is quite tight against the leaf above it. I'm a bit concerned it will get all distorted. I was hoping the spike might be pliable enough to move it out from under the leaf but it's solid as a rock so all I can do is keep my fingers crossed. :-)

[fishmom]

Well, those bottom leaves are going to wither and fall off eventually. Then the keiki's roots will have open access to the medium, and it won't look so messy.


Personally, I like the lush look of a less-organized phal. I have a Phal. fasciata that has a bunch of growth leads and it is lovely. You may be surprised.

[Roberta]

Definitely don't separate the growths... One large strong plant is preferable to several small weak ones... the big, strong plant will bloom better! There comes a point where it might need division... maybe in 10 years or so... in the meantime, enjoy the show produced by a multi-growth, multi-spike plant!

[Karen00]

Originally Posted by fishmom

Well, those bottom leaves are going to wither and fall off eventually. Then the keiki's roots will have open access to the medium, and it won't look so messy.


Personally, I like the lush look of a less-organized phal. I have a Phal. fasciata that has a bunch of growth leads and it is lovely. You may be surprised.

That is absolutely beautiful!! You're also right about the lower leaves dropping off eventually. I didn't think of that. I was also thinking that if I left it on I could start to grow out a specimen plant and given each plant seems to produce multiple spikes it could be quite spectacular. Never having had a keiki before this never crossed my mind. I have another mini that is also giving me multiple spikes so I'm wondering if it might also give a keiki at some point. Go figure... both are NOIDS from a grocery store. LOL