I would like some advice/opinions

[tim abbott]

I don't know if this is a hybred phal, it was given to me & I've had it about 5 years. The photo is the origional plant. I couple of years ago it develeped a keiki from the base just above the roots(basil keiki?) I removed it & it is doing fine. This year both of them developed a keiki from the end of what I thought would be a flower stem, now more leaves are forming on another flower stem(on the left of the photo and 2 branches have formed and appear to be flowers. My question is this just something that occurs periodically or am I maybe doing something that is stressing the plant & causing this behavior? They were both highly prolific with their first blooms this year & produced multiple stems, they stayed green so I left them thinking they may yeild more flowers. They are kept outside in east central Fl. in a shady spot & the main plant (and the keikis) have leaves with nice color and sheen. Thanks for your help.

Tim Abbott

[Undergrounder]

Wow that really would have been a nice display when they were in flower! nice job..

Whenever you leave green flower stems you always run the risk of getting keikis... especially if you get warm temperatures and leave the stems uncut over the summer. Low light can also do it, but in your case, given that you've been able to flower it fine, it's more likely just old stems and warm temps.

Nothing's wrong in fact the plant looks fantastic.. personally i prefer to cut stems after they've finished to keep the flowering compact and the plant actively growing. But if you like kiekis, and you like a big rambling spike, then hey... why not? It's up to you..

but anyway congrats Tim, the plant is obviously loving life outside in east central Fl!

[tim abbott]

Hi Undergrounder,

Thanks for the info. I'll trim them up, I'm thinking I'll combine some of the plants into one big pot. They are very prolific bloomers and the easiest plants I have to care for. I have attached a link to a photo of the blooms they produced earlier, the photo shows the flowers of both plants.

Picasa Web Albums - Tim - orchid

BTW I am guessing it is approaching summertime where you are.

Tim Abbott

[mehitabel]

Beautiful flowers. So many! Without knowing the name of your phal, there's no way to know the ancestry. There are some species that tend both to basal keikis and to keikis on the stem. The one of these that's in the most use for hybridizers is *equestris* where it is used to produce multifloras-- phal hybrids that produce branching spikes with lots of smaller flowers. What you have, I believe, given the picture.

So I agree with the previous poster-- your phal looks healthy and fine. I think it's just your phal's nature and has nothing to do with "stress".

Keikis can form in response to "stress" in the form of loss of the crown, and maybe some other "stresses" as well. But IMO, this fact is continually misapplied and overgeneralized to mean any keiki is a response to stress-- patently untrue.

[tim abbott]

Hi mehitabel,

The explanation undergrounder gave seems to fit the circumstances of what I have done. The origional plant was given to me. I dont know what type it is. The origional and the "child" outbloom all others and are fast growers so I'm happy to have more additions to their "family".

Tim Abbott