Is this a terminal growth?

[Floridan by Choice]

Back in July I used Keiki paste liberally on a several NOID Phals. Got some very good results. Today I took pics and the one pictured has 6 keiki growths, one is even shooting up a bloom spike.

The second picture shows a spike on the Phal in the first pic that is growing a spike that might be a terminal growth. Can anybody confirm that the dark spike is terminal growth or something else.

I'm sort of impressed with this thing.

[MattWoelfsen]

Unfortunately I cannot tell from your pictures where the spike comes from. A terminal spike on a Phalaenopsis comes from the crown of the plant. So if this spike is growing from the center of your plant, where you would expect a leaf to come out of, then it is a terminal spike.

[RandomGemini]

I agree, hard to tell, but there are so many keikis on this plant, that I don't think it's worth worrying about. Just pot up the keikis when they're ready and you'll have plenty more of this plant to go around!

[Floridan by Choice]

If a terminal spike only comes from the middle of the plant where we would expect new leaves, then this is not a terminal. That spike starts at the top node of the old spike (where I applied the keiki paste) and is growing on the opposite side of the spike from a keiki. It looks like this new spike and a keiki are growing from the same node just on opposite sides of the same spike.

The nodes on that new spike look swollen enough to try keiki paste on them - just to see what I would get.

What would happen if I just left the keikis on the mother plant? Would the mother plant necessarily die after a period of time from all those keikis hanging on her?

Thanks for your help, now I know where a terminal growth comes from.

[RandomGemini]

Good question! I have no idea, but I'm going to research it now!

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 PM ----------

From what I've found, if you leave the keiki attached to the mother, you risk losing one of them, possibly both, but there's not a ton of information out there on what actually happens, I just saw someone mention that it happened to them in a comment on a blog, so that's not exactly definitive.

If it were mine, I would remove the keiki when the roots are about 2 or 3 inches long and then pot it and probably give it to a friend or donate to an OS fundraiser, because I do not have room in my collection to keep multiple copies of the same plant.

[MattWoelfsen]

You can probably imagine that a lot of the energy is going to the keiki from the mother plant--as long as the spike is green and vital. But eventually, the keiki can grow on its own, once the plants grow their own root system.

For the last three summers, I have watched my NOID Phalaenopsis grow a keiki on its flower stalk. At the start of last summer 2013, the mother plant had four very long leaves. And its keiki had grown one leaf but many roots. I did not separate mother and keiki. This past Fall season, the mother plant had lost two leaves, and the keiki continued to grow its one leaf longer, more roots. October 2013, the keiki started growing a flower spike.

Here is a picture of mother and keiki. I'm going to keep the status quo. I will more than likely cut off the keiki and repot it when the weather gets warmer. I hope the mother survives long enough--mother is growing roots into its pot.

This is my attempt to answer the question should I keep mother and keiki together? It depends on what you are attempting to do with your plant. For me I'm doing it like this to answer my own question of what will happen if I keep both plants together?

[MattWoelfsen]

What would've happened if you did have a terminal spike on the mother plant? Usually, the terminal spike will flower but will eventually die back like a normal flower spike that came from the side of the plant. Sometimes the terminal spike will continue to be viable and the nodes will branch into more flower spikes. In my experience, my plant developed basel keiki. The terminal spike lasted two more years. Last year, this same plant grew a normal spike from its side AND developed two basel keiki.

It is amazing to me how "creative" Phalaenopsis are to ensure its survival or at least to ensure it lives on in the lives of new plants.

[POLKA]

As far as keikeis on momma go -- I leave them on until they spike and bloom -- both phalaenopsis, and dendrobiums. Then they are mature and can be potted up and keep their annual bloom cycle. If you cut them when they begin putting out new roots in the 2 to 3 inch range, then they act like juveniles and might take another season or more to grow up and bloom.

So, next spring, if you wish, cut them off, and pot them up (even if they don't spike).

I've got a plant that has keikeis in spike with a keikei of its own in spike. Kinda interesting to me! I like the effect. Looking for a basket to put it into, and see how things progress. It is sort of like an airplane plant situation!

Take care
happy growing

Rex

[No-Pro-mwa]

I had one on the mother plant for around 2 or 2 1/2 years. The keiki had a spike so I didn't cut it off. I was scared to do it also because I didn't know how exactly to do it. The roots were some of them at least 10 inches long.

At first both mother and keiki had a spike but after the mothers got done blooming, oh and of course I was not watering it enough, it died. The keiki never did stop growing and blooming.

But both of them started getting soft leaves and I was sure I was going to lose both so last March I re-potted both. The mother plant is just now starting to spike but sadly I am loosing the keiki. It is my fault because I planted it to deep in the pot and it started to rot.

I have a post about it on here. It now has only one leaf left and is just setting there. It won't die and it won't grow it's own keiki. I am not sure what to do with it. i so hate losing it and I am so mad at myself for potting it so deep in the pot.