Young phalaenopsis with conjoined twin? (seedling with a keiki?)

[sjcor]

Hi there!

I've just joined in hopes of better understanding what's happening here with one of my young phalaenopsis plants.

It was deflasked on the 7th of October 2020 and is a hybrid (Lea Marie Salazar x Mituo Prince “BB”). It is probably one of the strongest seedlings to come out of the flask, but has a very peculiar situation.

It seems to be a conjoined twin -- or, at least, a seedling with a keiki already.

It came out of the flask 'conjoined' and has continued to grow as such -- it's not a matter of it being two plants tangled up. They grow from the same base, appear to 'diverge' after about 4 leaves. There, the plant splits into two apparent crowns with a weird 'shared' leaf dividing the crowns. Both crowns currently have new leaves starting to grow. There are also plenty of roots popping out down the center of the plant.

Excuse the Paint job, but I tried to outline the shared leaf and label the two crowns.

Any thoughts on what's going on with this one? Should I expect it to eventually divide into two plants, like a 'mother and keiki' situation?

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Most Phal hybrids offset from the base eventually, forming clumps. Yours is starting early.

Keikiis are plants that form on the flower stems of Phals, or the upper stems of other orchids, from places the plants don't usually make new growths.

[Roberta]

Also, baby seedlings sometimes do get tangled... they may separate as they grow,and they may not. I would leave them together, even if they grow up that way. You'll have a stronger, multi-lead plant that very likely will bloom from the different growths, making a really nice display.

[Mr.Fakename]

It looks very big and healthy for such a recently deflasked seedling.
If that's already one of the strongest, I would do as Roberta suggests and leave the plant. That one's gonna be a champ!

[sjcor]

Thank you for the comments! I don't want to probe it too much, but I am curious as to whether or not it is two seedlings very tangled up. I admit it's my favorite, so I'm trying to be very careful with it.

Although it's years down the track, I would be very curious if this kind of growth habit would be inherited by any seedlings or clones produced by it!

[sjcor]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTed

Welcome sjcor! You are setting the bar pretty high for Jr Members. Very impressive specimen. (Brilliant!)

You might... just maybe... want to move this to Advance Discussions.

Looking forward to seeing some of the other plants you have. I'm just assuming this isn't the only one.

And excellent photographs. Welcome again.

Cheers!

Thank you for the kind words!

I've certainly amassed quite the collection already, but nothing quite as special as this little one (yet!) Such is life when you have a tendency to 'adopt' all the 'poor, sad' orchids from grocery markets!

This little seedling does have a few siblings though, so hopefully there's some good, vigorous genes shared among them!

[Mr.Fakename]

Originally Posted by sjcor

Although it's years down the track, I would be very curious if this kind of growth habit would be inherited by any seedlings or clones produced by it!

I've seen protocorms duplicate and become "two headed" like this, but ultimately dying.

One of my Vanda merrillii seedlings did that as well, but ended up growing only from one main point. That said the other part is still green, maybe it will make use of it someday.

I'm pretty convinced it's a reaction to stress; though it would be very interesting if that ability to have multiple shoots could be kept!

[sjcor]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fakename

I've seen protocorms duplicate and become "two headed" like this, but ultimately dying.

One of my Vanda merrillii seedlings did that as well, but ended up growing only from one main point. That said the other part is still green, maybe it will make use of it someday.

I'm pretty convinced it's a reaction to stress; though it would be very interesting if that ability to have multiple shoots could be kept!

How long until you started to see one of the growth points start to decline?

If you still have green on yours, you could try treating it like a keiki and remove the other growth point. Hopefully it'll take off again if it's lost the 'dead weight' so to say!

The 'line' of roots forming down the centre of this one has me a little convinced that it might eventually separate itself into two plants, but it's an exciting thing to witness nonetheless!