Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuerte Rav
Hi Keith
Yes the second (terminal) spike emerged right in the top of the plant where I would have expected the next leaf to appear.
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I think your worry may be due to another case where Miss Orchid Girl has popularized misinformation. I watched her video on this topic and can say with certainly that several of the things she says in the video are utter nonsense.
MOG's belief that a phalaenopsis with a terminal spike will die may be related to another bit of misinformation she has popularized. In one of her other videos she incorrectly claims that a phalaenopsis that branches will die. I have several phalaenopsis that have spontaneously branched and went on for years living happy productive lives. In fact, my favorite phalaenopsis is a huge plant that has branched twice. It currently has five flower stalks with 50-some flowers and buds and still more still developing.
Another bit of misinformation is MOG's use of the word "keiki" to describe normal axial branching stems. The word keiki is normally used to describe a plantlet that is much like a seedling growing from an irregular location such as the apex of a psudeoblub. Dendrobiums often produce keikis from the side of their canes and phalaenopsis sometimes grow keikis on their flower stalks. As a plantlet, a keiki has roots and can typically be removed and planted when very small. These plantlets are not the same as the normal growths that occur when an orchid stem branches.
When one of my phalaenopsis gets too tall I cut the top off and move the top along with its aerial roots to a new pot. Thereafter, the stem of the part left in the pot
always branches normally to create at least one new growing top. I feel lucky when it grows more than one. If the plant base had sufficient leaves, it and the top can both flower in the next season.
If your terminal spike is indeed the central meristem, cutting it off would be effectively the same as removing the top of the plant. Lacking a central growing meristem the main stem will branch as axial meristem tissue begins to grow at one or more locations. I've removed the tops of phalaenospsis many times over the years, and sometimes multiple times with the same phalaenopsis. I've never had one subsequently die. Nor have I had a phalaenopsis die after branching.
I see the phalaenopsis you're growing as a curiosity and a possible opportunity. At this point I certainly wouldn't consider it a setback - it's flowering! I suggest waiting to see if the terminal spike develops buds and flowers. If it isn't going to give you flowers, I'd cut it off. If it flowers, enjoy them for a couple months, then cut it off.
-Keith
Mini Phalaenopsis with 2 bloom spikes, but ....
Mine will probably be another 5-7 years. 
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