Need help identifying development stage of a phal

[Midnuit]

My name is Laura and I am a newbie at taking care of orchids. I have purchased my first orchid - a phalaenopsis a few months ago while it was still in bloom. The flowers lasted about 3-4 months and then withered. Thanks to the information found on this forum I was able to create a watering and fertilizing plan for the phal and have also checked the roots on a regular basis to make sure the plant is OK.

3 weeks ago I noticed that one of the two stems is showing signs that the plant is flowering again, but instead of flowers it grew leafs Now I have never read about this before, I don't even know if it's something normal. Can somebody please help me out with this? Can I cut the new leafs to grow them as a new plant, or is this some horrible mutation?

[Leadfoot]

That's called a Keiki. It will eventually grow new roots and you can then cut it off and replant it. Do a search on this topic and read for more details.

[dope.fatboy]

That is a keiki. Sometimes orchids, some with greater regularity than others, will propagate themselves by producing a clone from stem or inflorescence tissue and that's exactly what happened here. If you wait with enough patience you'll have a new plant. Wait till you have several roots that are several inches in length before you remove it fro the spent inflorescence.

By the way, you can't take cuttings from this type of plant, and no orchid that I'm aware of will propagate from leaf tissue alone.

[Bill U.]

For more information on keikis, you can read about them in the Propagation forum- there are TONS of entries about them.

[Midnuit]

Thank you all for your quick replies! The fact that the orchid is propagating is great, as I wanted to give my mother a similar looking Phal and this will make the perfect gift.