I just bought my first orchid last week, and I have a similar situation with mine - what appears to be a new leaf coming up in the center. Since I'm new to these, I assumed this was a good sign and that it was growing and thriving... Mine also has a spike with flowers and buds.

So now I'm wondering too - is this actually a baby/replacement plant? And if so, what should I do about it?

The terminal spike of flowers would come out of where the new leaf is emerging so since you have a new leaf coming from the center, that's not the terminal flower spike.

Your plant does look a little dehydrated but nothing dire. When was the last time you watered it? What color are the roots inside the pot?

Can you describe how you water it and how you decide when to water?

I just got it last week so I haven't watered it yet. The moss on the top was still slightly damp when I checked it over the weekend. My other Phals I water once or twice a week depending of if they are in bark or moss. If they are in moss they don't seem to dry out as fast so those about once a week and the bark a couple times a week. This one in the pictures is in moss so I will check it again this evening. I do my best to stick a skewer in as close as I can to the plant to see how wet it is. Then I water using another pot filled with water letting the plant sit inside it for 15 minutes or so. I also try to mist the air roots.

Would you agree the first picture is a keiki?

thanks

Thats what it looks like to me or maybe it could be becoming another stem. I think I've read about how these will rarely have two crowns on one plant. I've never seen it personally and hopefully someone with more knowledge/experience will weigh in on it.

I find moss is very deceptive lol. It looks thirsty though. If the moss is still wet, personally I would mist the surface roots to turn them green. It's totally possible it's been too wet and the bulk of the roots suffocated inside the pot.

I almost always immediately unlit anything in moss just to see what I'm working with. It goes back together pretty easily if you decide to keep its culture the same after the initial exam.

ok I guess time will tell. I will leave it alone for now and see what happens.

I would agree about the moss. I have a hard time telling if it is dry or not especially in the middle. I just checked it about an hour ago and when I stuck the skewer in the middle of the pot closest to the plant it came out wet but the edges and top are dry. I will mist it in the morning but I might wait one more day to fully water. With moss I am always afraid of overwatering where bark seems much harder to overwater. Also the two plants I have repotted so far the moss was so hard and compacted it took me forever to remove it all. It was so hard to get it all out of the roots as well.

If the moss is dried and has turned into a brick, you can soak it to loosen it up (it'll also make the roots a bit more flexible). In fact, if your moss is a block of hard dry mass, it'll need to be soaked anyway.

Aha! It's called a basal keiki (kay-kee)

Looks like a new leaf to me. I don't see a keiki.

Phals can flower, make new leaves and roots all at the same time.

Jane

I looked closer at the leaf in the first picture and the leaf is attached between the two leaves on the crown, exactly where a spike would grow. I am leaning towards the basal Keiki on it. The growth from the crown in the second picture definitely looks like a leaf. Although I have seen some pictures on the internet where the Keiki grew right out of the crown. I would assume that doesn’t happen very often and only if the mother plant is dying. I saw a lot more examples of the keikis growing out from places similar to mine. I appreciate all the comments. It always helps to get other people’s opinions on the things.

BD - here are some pictures I took this morning. It really looks like a new leaf coming along to me. But then, this is my first orchid.

The whole plant:

I see a basal keiki in the first picture and a new leaf in the second.

After a year or two, the mother plant and baby plant will be further apart ... you can separate them if you like. I have an orchid that grew a basal keiki about 6 years ago. I've opted to keep them together.

windymess, yeah I would say yours is a new leaf, it is bigger than the leaf I have on my plant (2nd photo). If you look at the first picture of the keiki you can actually see a really small 2nd leaf on the other side of the big leaf. Yours looks like just one single leaf.

The pictures I saw of the keikis that grew right from the crown already had several leaves and were pretty big already. I couldn't find anything that showed them when they first started so I am not sure what that would have looked like or how you could tell.

dannie317

Your plant is very pretty with both of them together. At this point I don't think I will separate them. I would assume with these bigger phals that the main reason to separate them is if you simply wanted a second plant or if they both got to big to keep together in the same pot at some point.

Thanks for the info BD. I won’t worry.