his phal was the first orchid I had that didn't die on me

[Teena]

This phal was the first orchid I had that didn't die on me. If plants could talk they could tell a tale of the battles they fought



The invaders they sent packing, the scars the got


Then it decided to send a spike right out of the center with a little leaf near the bottom. Was this it?


But no, it sent another spike up, poked its way up right through the leaf above instead of going around and out to the side.

[Teena]

So it blooms again, but what does it do after this, clearly since it sent a spike out of the center does that mean it will not send up new leaves from there. Does this mean the plant will die after this?

[Cjcorner]

Usually when the plant sends out a spike from the middle, the plant dies. Don't know why the darn things do this. I had one do it a short while back too. If you are lucky, the spike will send out a keikei that you can grow to replace this one.

[tucker85]

That's called a terminal spike. Not a very encouraging name, I know, but it's not the kiss of death. The main plant will not continue to grow but very often it will form one or more keikies. Just care for it the way you normally would and you may get rewarded with several new plants. The last terminal spike I had resulted in three new keikies before the mother plant died. Good luck.