Phal spike from center of plant?

[snowballsarebad]

I've seen a similar post here, but I can't find it, so here goes...
Meijer, the big supermarket around here, just put out a TON of phals for Mother's Day, and of course, I had to take a look. No buying though, way too expensive!
There were multiple Phal. Picotees that had an odd growth habit: they were double-spiked, but one spike is coming from the center of the plant. On this spike, there are two leaves, one at each node. But, they don't really look like keikis. Instead, they look more like the new growths on a dendrobium. You know, how the new canes develop... So I'm curious. Why does this happen? Will these leaves grow into keikis? Will the motherplant die off because the center growth was a spike and not a new leaf?

[mayres]

You got it exactly correct. If a spike grows out of the center the crown of the plant is gone. I have a plant like this that has been blooming its heart out since Christmas - I love the plant and flowers and was devastated when this spike came out of the crown area. Though not certain I am suspicious that mealy bugs may have eaten the very small leaves before I even knew they were there? Anyway, as you have noted, I have been told that if I am lucky either the spike will make keikis (nothing yet) or it will develop basal keikis. And yes, with mine as well, the nodes on the spike look much different than a normal spike - each node almost looks like a small leaf covering up the node. Quite unusual. Yes, the mother plant will cease to exist when each of the current leaves have lived their full lifespan. Except for the cut flower value if they were cheap I would not puchase a plant like this unless it was mighty cheap! If/when I get a or some keikis I will post a pic of my plant and show those who might be interested on the forum. mike

[snowballsarebad]

Cool, thanks for the answers. I hope you get some luck with your plant and it starts making keikis. I sure would hate to lose one that I really liked.
So, the leaves you have over the nodes haven't formed into keikis then?

[DDS2007]

WOW

didn't know this piece of info , thanks a million MIKE !!

i'll watch out of plants looking like this when i buy my next orchids!

[PhalPal]

That's amazing; I have never seen or heard of such a thing. Shame on that grocery store for selling such plants!