Phal Nubbins, Roots vs Spikes

[Moirae]

When I first got my orchids last year, I read/saw a lot of people's posts on here asking if their phal's nubbins were spikes or roots. I've gotten so much information from this board and the people are so nice here , I want to give back a little. Now, most phal owners have probably got this season's spikes already coming in, but, for the late bloomers or summer/spring spikers, I thought this might be helpful for newbies in identifying spikes.

So, here are a few pictures I've taken of my phal's various nubbins that might help you to identify if you have a spike coming in.

Here's a root on a mini phal:


A spike on the same mini phal:


the same spike about a week later:


Green mitten shaped spike:


Green spike peeking up from between the leaves:


Same green spike a week or so later:


The above still doesn't have much of a mitten shape, but you can be sure that it's a spike because it has no silvery white vellum below the growing tip such as on this root below:


Both roots and spikes can come out greenish or reddish-purple, especially if the flower has purple in it, so you can't really tell from the color alone (except of course if you see the silvery white vellum, then it's definitely a root )

Purple mitten shaped spike:


Roots tend to look smoother than spikes with no lines such as the ones on this spike nubbin:


Example of a pretty fat phal spike:


Done for now as I've reached my maximum attachment limit for the post. Might put up some more later though. Anyone else who has taken pictures of their lovely phal nubbins, please feel free to post them too. Would love it if someone would put up a picture of a basal keiki developing since I didn't have any to photograph myself.

[WhiteRabbit]

Cool!