Leaf growing from roots???

[jaggars]

I started repotting my phal orchids I received for Christmas and my birthday tonight when I came across something I have never seen before. I noticed a small leaf peaking out from the spag moss and when I pulled the moss from the roots the leaf was attached to the bottom of the roots. I was just wondering if I should cut it off or just leave it alone and cover in the bark media I will use?

Thanks!

[Ray]

I have seen that happen before. Most of the time, it is a basal keiki that just took a very long time to emerge, while other times it seems to result from a protocorm or VERY immature seedling that got potted up with another seedling, that finally developed into a plant, courtesy of the microorganisms in the rhizosphere.

[Fairorchids]

There are two possibilities. It is either:

A basal keiki, breaking from the stem a bit lower than usual.
If seed grown plant, it could be a second seedling that has been hiding in the roots of it's larger sibling, but starting to grow now. If so, it might be clinging to the roots of the larger plant, but it is not attached. In this case, it should have separate roots.

If the former, you have two choices:
1. Repot it high, so keiki is at surface level.
2. Repot it normal. The keiki will either suffocate, or work it's way up.

If the latter, it should separate with gentle prodding.

[jaggars]

Interesting.... I love learning new information about them The leaf and smaller roots looked like they could easily be removed so I gently broke it off and placed in a tiny pot of spag moss. Was this ok to do?