what to do with this?... 1 year later
 

:hello

i just bought a phal in discount as you can see it has a healthy root system and a new flower spike and a possible "eye" where it may form a basal keiki

my question is should i cut the flower spike so the plant can grow new leaves or should i just let natre run its course?

http://s11.postimg.org/ngr3cis03/08022014110.jpg
http://s11.postimg.org/fpaddynur/08022014111.jpg
http://s11.postimg.org/pvedj7iv7/08022014112.jpg
http://s11.postimg.org/3xmi35t8j/08022014113.jpg

Wow~ how interesting! I would love to see how it progress.

I would let it be. Living things are smart. It will do its thing. The spike also photosynthesis so it only helps.

but, first of all, I would give it a nice drenching as the poor thing looks VERY thirsty right now. :)

Keep it updated, please! :)

It may keiki off of the spike.

This will slowly stop growing. The spike will stall and lose whatever flowers buds it can muster. It is living off the energy stored in the roots. There most likely is not enough energy to see it through to keiki. Sorry. Watering it will just hasten it's demise. There are no leaves to utilize the water you put on it. No, the roots don't photosynthesize enough to keep this going. Time will tell.

i´ve read in this forum about rescue orchids like this one that can make it but im unsure of the best course of action

James- You cannot tell that for sure as a fact. You can only guess.

Watering will not kill it only keeps it alive as any living thing needs water.

Water will not be utilized without some leaf material to photosynthesize. Keep watering it but it won't have enough stored energy in the roots to stay viable. Phals are not like catts or dens or oncids. They store their energy in their leaves and to a small extent, in their roots. But remember that their roots are thin wires covered in the spongy velamin. My opinion is ....we'll see. Please bring this back in a month.

Water is not used just for photosynthesis. Plants are mostly made up of water. They also need water just to maintain internal pressure to stay turgid.

this is how it looks now :D

http://s30.postimg.org/o06fqylwh/IMG...228_120625.jpg

http://s30.postimg.org/jfk9c1275/IMG...228_120647.jpg

I love posts like this, where you see what orchids are actually capable of! Great post and the phal looks terrific, good growing!!