Hiya everyone, I have been keeping orchids for just a little over a year now. I got sucked in to buying some lovely looking phals on sale at Home Depot, and here we are. I'm here with the same question for two of my phals- are these keikis or what?
The first picture is a very small phal lueddemanniana var. purpurea which I bought at an orchid show last Feb. It was looking rather sad when I picked it up but I thought I could save it and it was only a few dollars. I over-potted it a bit because I've read that small orchids like this need room for 2 years' growth, and that over-potting helps the plant to focus on root growth which was what it seemed to really need at the time. Now it looks much better, has grown a new leaf and seems to be starting in on a third. But a couple months ago I noticed this little growth on the underside of the larger leaf on the right. It doesn't look at all like a root and seems too low to be a flower spike... plus I think this plant is nowhere near blooming size. I've heard this particular variant of phal described as a "keiki machine" but I never would have thought it would start so young. Your thoughts?
The second picture is the first phal I bought (white NoID) and really did a number on at first. It dropped all but one leaf last year but has just put out two new ones very recently. I was getting ready to repot it since it seems to have a lot of old dried out roots but then I noticed this little green nub on the underside of the largest leaf. I don't think phals spike from there, and I don't expect this one to bloom again until late spring, but I suppose it might be a root... is it too early to tell?
Thanks for all of your help!
Are these keikis?
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