Something strange

[lindasbabies]

Hi everyone! I haven’t been on in awhile. I have a phalenopsis that has been in bloom since I bought it last June. One blossom opened much later than the others and it’s the only one left on the flower spike. This morning as I was watering it I found a strange growth on the flower spike and I’m unsure what it is. I’ll include a picture. Any help would be appreciated.

[WaterWitchin]

Hard to see clearly, but looks like it's branching off a new spike. They do that sometimes.

[Utopar]

Looks like expected growth: secondary branch growing from a node.

[lindasbabies]

Ok thank you both. I appreciate it.

---------- Post added at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------

Do you think I should let it flower again since it’s been in bloom since June? Doesn’t it need time to just rest and focus on growth of leaves?

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Let it bloom. These guys are tough and can bloom non stop in some cases.

[SADE2020]

Let it be, meaning blooming if that is what it wants!!! The plant looks healthy.

Assuming you didn't use any kekie paste??

[lindasbabies]

No, I didn’t use Keike paste or anything else for that matter. It just was in bloom in June when I bought it with two beautiful full flower spikes! It stayed in bloom through November when the flowers fell off, all but one and that one had bloomed much later than all the others. I cut off the one flower spike that was empty and drying up so I only had this one flower spike with one flower on it. Then today while watering it I found this strange looking growth on the flower spike. I wondered if it was a keiki or another flower spike branching off.

---------- Post added at 07:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:16 PM ----------

I have five orchids now, three mini phals and 2 regular phals. My three mini phals all have flower spikes growing right now. Only one has buds that look like they’ll bloom any day. They are growing flower spikes early this year! Normally they don’t start until April or may.

[Mountaineer370]

What I'm seeing does look like it wants to be a branching spike. It could possibly be a keiki, but that seems less likely. I have several Phals that put out those kinds of growths from their existing spikes, and in most cases, they reach about a half inch long and then don't do anything else. I'm sure it has something to do with my culture and/or conditions in my home. So, although they don't end up developing for me, they certainly don't cause any harm, either. I wish you better luck than I have. Maybe you will get a nice new branch with flowers off of that spike.

[lindasbabies]

I have had a different phal develop another flower spike off an existing one that went on to bloom before so maybe that’s what this is but to me it looks different from a flower spike. A flower spike looks like a mitten at the tip. This one looks spikey at the tip like maybe leaves but I’m really not sure at all. We will see what happens with it.

[Roberta]

Mini phals especially tend to branch... the genetics of the species in their background have that tendency.