Leaves at the end of the spike - Keiki?

[boren]

This is my first orchid and it finally grew a new spike.

To my surprise the spike is growing leaves and what looks to be roots at the end of the spike.

I searched around for leaves on a spike and found keikis, but this doesn't look anything like the pictures of keikis I saw.

I have attach pictures of the plant for everyone to check out.

Does anyone have a idea what this plant is doing?

[Carpe Diem]

It is a keiki! Your Phal. is having a baby. I think you will need 3 inches of root total before you can take it off and plant it in its own pot. I'm sure others will chime in and give you more detailed directions.

[Bill U.]

That is definitely a keiki! Congrats! Carpe is right in that it is generally recommended that you wait for there to be at least 3 roots that are 3 inches long before you remove the keiki and pot it up (easy to remember- 3x3). There are several discussions in the potting and propagation sections on the Board that discuss the various methods that people use when potting keikis. Great growing!

[boren]

Does this spike have chance to make flowers or will it only make the keiki?

[Bill U.]

From the looks of your spike, I would say that it will only focus on growing the keiki.

However, depending upon your aesthetic preferences, you can leave the keiki on the spike, and then during the next flowering spurt occurs, you may be able to get a spike from both the mother plant AND the keiki (due to the hormones being shared by both). Some people like to do this, others don't care for the look that it would give, so they pot the keiki separately when it is large enough to support itself.

[Trini Kjeldz]

on a different note....your phal keikied rather than flowered...this showsa that something is not totally right!!! we grow orchids for flowers and wen they instead send out adventitious growth we know there is an imbalance.....ofc you are happy u have a new plant...but look into the plants needs a little better...light intensity,fert,temps,etc

[Im Just Saying]

Just to chime in, first off congratulations! I wanted to add that although a web search offers slightly different answers, I believe that you can separate the keiki once you reach 3" in total root length ie. 3 1" roots, 2 1 1/2" roots ect. I've also read that once you do separate it you can plant the keiki with the mother plant in the same pot (with fresh medium). The thinking behind this being that the mother plant will help regulate the moisture in the medium. I haven't tried this myself however so someone else may offer a different solution. With that being said it's going to take what seems like FOREVER to get to the point where it can be separated!

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Trini Kjeldz

on a different note....your phal keikied rather than flowered...this showsa that something is not totally right!!! we grow orchids for flowers and wen they instead send out adventitious growth we know there is an imbalance.....ofc you are happy u have a new plant...but look into the plants needs a little better...light intensity,fert,temps,etc

Sometimes, but not necessarily ... some species and hybrids are very prone to keikis. And others may just keiki on a finished blooming spike because the plant is doing very well ...

[boren]

I would be concerned about it not liking something, but the new leaves are huge and in very good shape.

Thanks for all the hopeful comment everyone!

Is their a suggested/different fertilizer when a Phal has a keiki?

[Bill U.]

No, with a keiki, you basically just take care your phal as you have been. Some people may recommend that you increase the amount of fertilizer that you use because the mother plant is "eating for two", but you have to be careful with that because you don't want to burn the roots or poison it with too much fertilizer salts.