acquired a free Phal today...need help, please

[dgenovese1]

Hi Vicki,
It sounds like you made a good decision in telling the manager about your bad experience, and it looks like you've got yourself a couple of orchids there, and healthy ones to boot...I count the keiki as a separate plant.

Some folks may argue with me, but I cut off phal keikis when they have 3, 2 inch long roots growing from them...and from the looks of yours, it's time to remove it and pot it up. I would remove it by cutting the stem it is growing from just below where it is attached. I would also remove any additional stem material from above where it is growing. I would sprinkle the stem ends with a fungicide or ground cinnamon, and then plant the keiki like any other phal, making sure that it is secure in its new pot.

The only other thing I would consider doing is to remove all of the old stems from the mother plant (except the blooming one). Having just transplanted it, this will give the plant more energy to develop more roots, rather than try to push more buds out of its old stems. Plus when the new spikes form in the future, they will be bigger and produce more flowers. We like more flowers!