Big Phal: A Minor Update

A small keiki opens in the front, with older keiki in background

     The third growth on my phalaenopsis "NOID phattie" has now revealed itself as another keiki.  This brings the total up to three confirmed keikis on my phal.  I am not yet sure what I will do with three more copies of this orchid after I grow the baby plants up to flowering size.

     In the meantime, the spikes are also activating many more nodes below the ones which produced these keikis.  These very miniature growths are still much too small for me to tell what they are, but since the theme of this orchid seems to be keikis, that's what I expect out of these newest growths as well.  There are about 5 of them.

smallest new growth

     My one worry is whether all these keikis are taking up too many resources from the parent plant.  I would hate to have this very large orchid reproduce itself onto death.  The big phal seems healthy enough, however, so unless I start seeing a decline in its appearance, I don't intend to interfere with however many keikis it ultimately decides to grow.