What is going on with this home depot orchid(phal?)

[Kailyn]

I saw some sad looking orchids in my home depot the other day and went to inspect closer they all looked like phals but some had these strange multiple growths I have never seen before. I had my camera so I took some pictures. Are these just Phals gone wild or some other type? all the flowers were long gone expect for on one mini phal.

[dounoharm]

they do look like phals....maybe the grower got lazy and put several in a pot instead of one in a pot....they could also be basal keikis, but you usually find those on older plants...the ones at the stores are generally fairly young plants....good luck with them!

[MrHappyRotter]

Some phal species are prone to producing pups. It's mostly smaller growing species. Since they show up in the background of many hybrids, particularly the miniature hybrids, it's not completely unheard of for healthy phals to produce pups like that. I've had and seen numerous mini phals over the years that would produce offsets at the base of the plant like you're describing.

However, it's just as likely or even more likely, that you've got multiple seedlings in the same pot. A lot of orchids are mass produced for the potted plant market, and nobody spends much time at all with any individual plant or pot. Growers sometimes put multiple flasklings in a pot to increase the likelihood of at least one surviving, and sometimes more than one does survive. From a business perspective, it costs more to inspect the plants and separate any multies like this than it does to just ship the pots out with multiple plants, so they usually don't spend the time to bother.

[My Green Pets]

Sounds like a bonus to me!

[Kailyn]

haha I didn't buy these particular ones I've kinda boycotted NOID phals as they are everywhere, the next on my list is a cym. They were also asking quite a lot for plants that were done blooming. It was an extreme act of will power to walk away though. I was just baffled at seeing them grow like this and wondered if they were something different.

[MattWoelfsen]

The Phalaenopsis are sometimes potted together to create a multi-spiked presentation. When these plants that you picture were in full bloom, they must've been spectacular and the price would have been over US$25. Now they are probably less that US$10. I sometimes buy these plants and bring them back to blooming. I then give them away to friends.

As others have said, Phalaenopsis sometime produce keiki from the base or from a spent flower spike. If that was the case, one plant would be larger than the other, not so in these plants.

[Kailyn]

if you look closely there is a smaller growth in the middle of the one picture. it was really hard to get a decent pic standing on top of a ladder in home depot trying not to look too strange...

[MrsH530]

I saw a bunch like this at my local Lowes last week. It appeared to me that they were separate plants, just 2 in one pot. I would have gotten one, but the plants were in the worst condition I've ever seen, and as I have yet to make a successful recovery with one, I was not about to pay full price for a plant that would most likely die on me.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by Kailyn

if you look closely there is a smaller growth in the middle of the one picture. it was really hard to get a decent pic standing on top of a ladder in home depot trying not to look too strange...

I'm looking at the first picture, is the second picture the top view of the first? If so, then one of these plants produced a keiki! That makes a nice bonus.

[Corsetière]

I've bought phals from a big box store that were potted up with several plants per pot. This looks like what you have in your photos, however it is possible to get basal keikis on some phals. I have one of these currently. It's hard to tell what is going on from your photos, but you should be able to see pretty clearly in person if the other sets of leaves are just next to the other plant or if it is actually coming out of a plant as a keiki.

I think they sometimes grow some phals together from seedlings because it helps moderate the moisture levels and increase seedling survival rate. You may have heard of the term "com pot" or community pot.