Is this a flower spike?

[Rross]

Now that autumn has brought a drop in temperatures, I’ve started checking my phals for flower spikes. This morning, I found the new growth circled in the photo. Could anyone tell me if it’s a spike?

[Louis_W]

Its a little hard to tell exactly but it looks like a new head of leaves branching off the side.

[Rross]

That’s what I was thinking too. Bummer.

[Ray]

Once a phalaenopsis gets its required cool-down period - about 2 weeks of an average temperature about 10°C below that ta which it had been growing - it takes about 6-8 weeks for a spike to emerge and another 6-8 weeks for buds to form and open.

[Rross]

The growth is just under the lowest leaf. Would that mean this growth is a basal keiki?

[Louis_W]

Originally Posted by Rross

The growth is just under the lowest leaf. Would that mean this growth is a basal keiki?

Yes, but i dont like to think of them that way. I like yo think of them as a way for the plant to get larger. Its just a new lead. I feel like people call them keikis and feel like they need to be removed at some point. Personally I would be even happier to see that than I would a spike!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Louis_W

Yes, but i dont like to think of them that way. I like yo think of them as a way for the plant to get larger. Its just a new lead. I feel like people call them keikis and feel like they need to be removed at some point. Personally I would be even happier to see that than I would a spike!

For certain - when the plant forms a clump with several basal growths, each of which can bloom, you can get an even better show! (Basal growths share the root system of the main plant... when people try to separate them they usually end up killing both)

[Rross]

Thanks for your reply. I shall try and look on the bright side.

[Roberta]

Anything growing is good. Green is good...