keiki or spike? not sure.. can you help

[Miamiheat]

Did apply some keiki paste to some nodes a few weeks ago, but I got so many plants lately that I have lost track. Would you be able to tell if spike or keiki at this stage?

[Bill U.]

In pictures #1-3 (from left to right) it looks as if they are only going to be a spike = more blooms! Yay!

The last 2 pictures are a bit difficult to tell at this point. I think that #4 could be a spike, but from this angle it's a bit hard to tell. But #5 looks like it could turn out to be a keiki.

The biggest tell-tale signs: 1) spikes will form a sort of "mitten" shape on the very end of their growing tip (which is useful to determine spikes from roots when they are just emerging from the crown) 2) In short order, any keikis will develop prominent leaves- they will probably be tiny, but distinctly formed leaves.

Depending upon when you applied the keiki paste, the condition of the paste (have any of the growth inducing hormones degraded or broken down), and also the conditions of the growing area- I have heard that a fair number of phals will keiki when they are receiving less light than they would like; I believe it is some sort of mechanism to try and boost leaf surface area in the attempt to get more light. Something you may want to try with your phals is to have them bloom as usual and then maybe move it to a spot that receives less light?

I would just wait and see a bit longer. In the end, if you happen to end up with keikis, that's awesome, but if they are "juuust" spikes, then you get the promise of an extended bloom time!

[Island Girl]

^ I agree with Bill, but will say that number 2 could be a kieke... I've had a few kiekes grow on my species Phal. cornu-cervi recently (a few basal kiekes, and one on the spike) and the one on the spike, started out looking exactly like the growth in pic number 2... But, there's no way to really know, until they grow a little more... (I wasn't sure what it was, until it grew its first 'leaf') plus, I didn't use any kieke paste on mine, it was a natural growth, so it could be possible that the paste makes it look different than a non-pasted growth? (Lol, kieke paste can cause some wierd-looking growths! Do a search here on the OB, and see what turns up! It's really interesting, actually! )