Attack of the mutant NoID Phal!

[jenmonkey]

A while back I posted a pic of the end of my NoID Phal that had just finished blooming 2 days earlier. I wanted to know what was growing at the end, and I was told it was new flower buds.

So... now look at them! They've mutated! I'm curious to see what they look like in another month. Hopefully they won't have grown legs and arms and joined forces with the alien eggs that were gestating in the roots of my Oncidium Sharry Baby!

Is this the normal sort of mutation, or should I be quarantining this bad boy?

[phalaephila]

I had flowers that did not form well when I did not give them enough fertilizer (okay, none for a while). What is your fertilizing regimen?

When I resumed fertilizing on a regular basis, the next spike was normal.

Hope this helps,

Jeanne

[Duane McDowell]

Sometimes secondary budding gives weird flowers. Could be because the plant wasn't fertilized or watered at precisely the right time during some critical phase of bud development (probably during shipment to the store or during the time it sat at the store). I wouldn't worry about it. If the blooms aren't aesthetically pleasing to you, cut the spike and grow the plant up big and strong for the next bloom cycle!

[jenmonkey]

I figured it'd be fine for the next blooming cycle. Thanks for confirming that.

I'm kind of a twisted person, so I'm enjoying watching the mutant buds grow. I think I'll keep them and see what they become!

And yes, I was experimenting with potting and fertilizing for a while there, so that's probably what it is. I've finally settled on S/H and the Dyna-Grow line, so it should be normal soon. Not too soon, though, I hope. I think I'm gonna paint the mutant buds. Should make a good abstract.