I did not kill it!

[Corsetière]

I have a talent for killing Phals but I think I have finally reformed my ways. When watering this morning I discovered this happy little spike and the keiki is doing well too!

[annak]

two hopes on the way

[Corsetière]

It will be twice as exciting when it blooms because I have no idea what color the flowers are!

[Bud]

How exciting for you to have a small healthy basal keiki.....but the disturbing news is I see a 'terminal spike' =this might be a bit disappointing because the mother plant cannot produce a new leaf where the terminal spike is. But hopefully with following the correct culture you can still keep on getting blooms or a keiki from that spike.

[Corsetière]

Originally Posted by Bud

I see a 'terminal spike'

Tell me more about this, please. How does one identify a terminal spike? And why does this happen?

[Optimist]

Happy Little keiki.

[Tindomul]

Wow, a terminal spike!
Well, that means that that Phal will not be getting taller. Now you have to keep the keiki alive and hopefully it will bud some other keikis around the base.
A terminal spike is a flowering stem that grows from the point from the last leaf grew (the growing tip). Therefore no other leaves can continue growing from there.
This is in contrast to an apical growth (spike, bud whatever) where the structure grows from the side of the plant, at a node other than the growing tip.

[Corsetière]

Interesting! I wonder if that is why it created the basal keiki? The older spike next to the new spike had ended in bud blast after I got in home from the nursery. It seems like creating a terminal spike is a silly thing to do in terms of reproduction. How odd! Is this common?

[NYCorchidman]

I have seen it quite a few times at a local famer's market here.
Almost every time I see a bunch of phals in bloom, there will be at least one or two whose spike is originating from the center of the growth.

I always avoided them thinking that's the end of the plant. lol

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by Corsetière

Interesting! I wonder if that is why it created the basal keiki? The older spike next to the new spike had ended in bud blast after I got in home from the nursery. It seems like creating a terminal spike is a silly thing to do in terms of reproduction. How odd! Is this common?

I don't exactly think it is totally "odd" in terms of reproduction. The basal reproduction would be an alternate form of reproduction. Turf grass does this all the time. If you cut off the seed producing mechanism, it will reproduce basally. Other plants will sucker when they are trimmed. Plants often have various contingency plans. It is kind of like when certain frogs become female when there are too many males. Life will find a way...