Got a new Paphiopedlium!

[Sara]

I stopped by Woodsprite Orchids again, and got myself a new Pahpiopedilum. It is a Petula's Ruby (Ruby Peacock 'Display' x Petual 'Downtown').
Here are a couple of pics.

(Sorry this one didn't come out so well.)


Close up of blossom.


While on the way home, I noticed this.

Is it what I think it is? Is that a keiki!? If so, how big should it get before I remove it from Mum? And how? Thanks!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

That is not a keiki, it is next years fan and will produce next years flowers. Monopodials like Phalaenopsis just grow upward, so any other kind of growth can be called a keiki, and can come off when the time is right, since it is not an important part of the plant. A Paphiopedilum is a sympodial, which means it grows sideways and prodices a new growth one or more times per year from the side. That growth is the future of the plant and is the most important part of the plant, as it is usually where the following years growth comes from. All fans have a limited life span, so, each year a fan lives, it is less and less important to the plant and will eventually die off. Cynthia

[Sara]

Thank you Cynthia!!!