first Phalaenopsis keiki
 

Hi I am fairly new to orchids so I wanted to validate what I have is keiki on my plant. Also do Phalaenopsis put out new leaves at the same time they have a flower spike with flowers? I am wondering if I am getting a keiki in the crown of the plant or just a new leaf? If it is keiki then that means the plant is dying from what I understand which is bummer since I just bought it and I really love the flowers. I would love some opinions on this from those with more experience than me

Thanks

First photo, basal keiki. Second photo normal new leaf formation.

It looks like a new leaf in the second pic. And yes, I have often had phals that grew new leaves while in spike or bud. I'm not sure about your comment that if a phal has a keiki then it's dying. While it is true that SOME may throw a keiki because the mother plant is in decline, that is not always the case. From what I can see your plant looks healthy.

Ok great, I saw a couple pictures on the internet where the keiki came right from the crown of the plant which basically was the same as having a terminal spike. I thought it was a leaf when I first saw it but then when I realized it had a keiki in the back I second guessed myself on the leaf. I was thinking it would normally only put out new leaves when it was done flowering and transitioned into its growth stage. Thanks for validating.

Welcome to the Orchid Board, BD11!

Phals normally produce leaves from the center of the crown. They also normally branch from the base. Yours is doing both, and is normal. With time Phals can have many crowns growing together, all flowering together as well. There is no necessity to separate these clumps of plants. If you try to separate basal growths before they are big enough, you can damage the entire plant.

Phals often produce new leaves constantly when kept in warm conditions. When kept cooler in winter they often slow down a lot.

The term "keikii" means a plantlet developing in an unexpected place. Because it is normal for Phals to clump from the base, it is confusing to apply the term "keikii" to a normal basal growth. It makes people think something is abnormal, when it isn't.

Phals sometimes develop kekiis at an unbloomed node of a flower spike. Some species of Phal are known for this, and they pass the trait to their progeny. Some kekiis even flower and produce their own kekiis!

They can be separated and potted up on their own when they have a good root system. This normally takes months to over a year. They can be left on the spike much longer if desired; there is no rush to separate them unless the spike itself is dying.

Sometimes a spike dies before a keikii is truly big enough to separate. With excellent care these can often survive, but it is always better to wait until the keikii is big before separating it.

You can read about growing Phals here in a sticky thread in the Beginners forum. From the left menu select Forums then Beginners. Look near the top for The phal abuse ends here.

Thanks, and I appreciate all the information. For now, I plan to leave the keiki and see what happens with it. I just wanted to make sure that was what it was at this point. I get nervous when I see something weird happening with one my plants.

I have done a lot of reading up on orchids and have learned a lot (especially thru this forum). I am really enjoying the handful I have. I have a lot of houseplants but I have always been afraid of trying orchids because they seemed to require a lot of work but so far, they have not been any more work than the rest of my plants. I really love a challenge so I am looking forward to trying to get them to bloom over and over.

If you pick orchids requiring conditions close to what you already have, they are not hard to care for. People get into trouble when they see something pretty, and buy it, before finding out what it needs. The main things to pay attention to for most people are temperature, humidity and light through the year. It's really hard to keep a hot-growing orchid happy if you keep your house cool in the winter.

I would argue that basal growth on a Phal is not normal behavior though. It does happen, but since they are monopodial plants they don't form clumps, and if they do it's a rare occurrence. So I would still call it a keiki as opposed to just a new growth.