Is it safe to repot with a keiki on the spike

[Sofifi]

Hi there ,
I'm a brand new member of the forum although I've been reading quite a lot here regarding my 3 Phalaenopsis. I've found many answers here but I'm not sure what to do now -

I've just brought home a blooming Phal from the store and its flowers are already falling off. Is it normal for a plant to loose its blossoms only in a couple of days after bringing it home? It's never happened to me before.

The phal that I chose to buy has a tiny leaf on the spike, less than an inch long and no sign of other growth, just a leaf. I assumed it's a keiki and was curious to know whether it will continue to develop at home. One question here is Is it safe to repot the Phal now, with a (maybe) keiki on board? The medium doesn't look very fresh.

Another thing is, do I need to cut the spike below the node that produced the first flowers and leave only the part with the keiki or maybe leave the spike as is?

Thank you for reading this and have a good day!
Sofia

[Silje]

Hello and welcome to OB!

It is pretty normal that phals react to change of scenery and environment by dropping their flowers. Likewise, it's also quite common that the small buds on the phal spikes dry up instead of actually producing flowers.

The leaf might be a keiki. It might also just be a...leaf. My experience is that these tiny leaves don't always develop into keikis.

Yes, it is safe to re-pot phals whenever you feel like it. The risk is rather the mechanical damage you might do to the spike rather than that the plant will object to it. Phals are very forgiving that way. My impression is that they reward you for re-potting rather than sulking.

You can do eiter or regarding the spike. You can just leave it, or you can cut it. I would suggest, since you want to keep the spike to see if the keiki develop, that you don't touch it at all but let it dry out or continue growing in its' own pace.

[Sofifi]

Thank you so much for your quick and detailed answer!

I'd no idea there could be leaves growing that high on the spike.
I'll do as advised and will be hoping to have more flowers sooner than later with or without keiki