Strange phal leaves

[Gladys47]

I'm not so good at pics. so I hope this shows what I'm talking about well.
This phal was given to me by a friend a while back. She had had it a long time.
Look at the leaves, they are weird. It grows and spikes well. The spike on it currenrly is about 3' long and grows out straight sideways. the base of spike is twice the size on normal spike I have seen in diameter. I kind of like it like that, just wish I knew the leave problem.

[Oscarman]

The leaves look distorted.....but by what? Possibly could it be from a chemical application? New one for me!

[reinbo15]

I would say that this plant was exposed to temperatures well below its liking. We have some plants that look like that. They were shipped to Michigan from California over the winter in an unheated truck. The chilling injury won't prevent the plant from growing and blooming for you, though. You just have some stunted leaves, is all.

[gixrj18]

The sideways spike is most likely due to direction of the light source. I don't know about cold damage, I live in Florida. But I can tell you I haven't seen those symptoms on any plants down here, so it very well could be cold damage.

[Gladys47]

Blooms are gone now and this silly thing has a bud on the tip. I don't know if it is a new spike or keikei or what. Too soon to tell. I think I will leave it alone until I can tell. I was thinking of cutting the spike. But I really kind of like the oddness of it. I think I'll see what happens naturally before I make a decision. What do the masses think?;} Gladys

[sschneider]

Judging by the look of the potting mix and the unusual growth pattern, it looks to me that this phal. is particularly sensitive to uneven moisture during its growth phase.

[Val]

I'm just a beginner, but I've seen a Phal with similarly contorted leaves. With this Phal, the cause was most probably the lack of light, and the plant tried to re-orient its leaves towards the faint source of light - I'm 99% sure. Does your Phal get enough light?
Just my .

[Paul Mc]

My first thought was the direction of light as well. I have a phal that did something similar (growing leaves in various directions) and I discovered it was because I turned it while the new leaf was growing which caused the leaf to grow in a different direction.

As for cutting off the bloom spike, I would never cut a bloom spike until it has completely dried up. The reason is that some phal's bloom off of the old spike. Two of mine still have the old spikes from last year and there are multiple new branches forming with buds off of them.

It could be a keiki, but if it is then you might want to be aware of why phal's produce keiki's. Some just produce them more as the plant gets olders, while others produce keiki's when the mother plant senses it is in danger and potentially is going to die. Of course, keiki's can also be formed when a flower has been polinated (by being bumped, or insect, etc...).

It does not look like your phal is in any kind of danger despite the odd growth of the leaves, but you might want to check it's roots to make sure.

[Zildjian]

there's a little variegation on one of the leaves as well