Mini-Phal Mutation Bonanza
Hey guys,
I picked up a box store mini Phal about a week ago, and it appears to be playing mutation bingo with every flower that opens.
I first noticed the spike had abnormally large leaves (the lowest one is about 1 1/2", the highest is a third of that), and a few of the flowers were upside down and facing downwards, which does happen.
But since I've had it, more flowers have opened, I've seen pretty much everything that can go wrong, go wrong. One has extra petals, one is missing a sepal. One has a duplicated labellum that was formed upside down and then merged with the upper sepal, and another has had its labellum (and only the labellum) randomly dry up completely and fall off. The newest flower didn't even open, the sepals and petals had never separated on half the flower so it just has its labellum and one sepal dangling majestically in the wind.
I don't even want to speculate on whats missing internally, as even the "normal" looking flowers have a translucent anther cap. And look a little crusty.
So my question is, for curiosities sake, do I leave the spike alone and just let it do its whacked out thing? Or chop it off and save the plant some energy? And dignity?
The second question is do any of you think that this is because it got hit too hard with the happy time hormones and will eventually sort itself out?
Or did I just pick up someones breeding project reject, and should expect high entertainment value for years to come?
Thanks!
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