New orchid stem from already active node?

Question

Just asking this for my own education. This phalenopsis was my first houseplant. It bloomed, flowers fell, and I cut the spent stem portions. A few months later, a new spike emerged, a new leaf started to grow, and meanwhile, plenty of new root growth was going on. I did repot it into fresh “repotme aaa gold” medium (mix of sphagnum moss, bark, various little airy stones) between the spent spike cutting and the new spike. That was around 8 months ago. Since then, it experienced some bud blast, and the ones that didn’t fall stalled mid bloom. The new leaf has also not changed since then either. Now, it is growing a new spike from an already active node. Is this normal? What gives, I thought new spikes would only come from dormant nodes? Overall it seems healthy and conditions are good (not too dry or wet, no direct light, occasional fert, no pests). Just not behaving as I would have thought. Curious what people think

@MotherOfOrchids · Accepted Answer

Hi 👋. It sounds like you’ve been doing all the right things and have been providing great care. There are a couple of things that spring to mind: the first is energy. Aborting leaves/slow growing leaves and flower spikes can be a sign of low energy and not getting enough light. How much sunlight is your phal getting at the moment? I’ve found that even in a south facing window in winter, my phals weren’t very happy and growth had slowed right down until I put them under a grow bulb (I’m in England though and our winters are dark and dreary with only six hours of sunlight a day, whereas phals get around 12 in their native environment). Blooming takes a huge amount of energy (less so if it hasn’t had to produce a new spike to bloom, but still a lot of energy) so they need plent of sun and can tolerate full sun in winter (they need shaded light in spring and summer as they can be prone to sunburn). Another thing that can cause bud blast and the spike to be aborted is stress - even moving the plant to a new room can cause this, especially if cooler (they tend to cope better when not in bloom and during spring and summer). The other thing is, how are the roots doing? - do they look green/silver and thick and healthy? Was your phal happy for a while after you repotted or did you notice any problems fairly early on after the repot? A root check would be helpful - roots tell us a huge amount about the plant’s overall health. I  noticed you said that the conditions are not too dry and not too wet. Phals are epiphytes - they grow on trees! - and they are happiest with a wet/dry cycle for their roots. It’s a bit like rainfall - the bark gets wet and saturated the roots, then slowly over days it dries out and then the next rainfall happens. I water mine when the bark is dry or very close to being dry and the roots are silver. They actually cope better with being underwatered than overwatered. It’s normal for growth to slow down in winter, especially while the plant focuses on blooming - you’ll see less root growth and leaf growth while in bloom. It’s also possible for a new branch to develop from an already active stem. The ends of the stem can activate too and create new buds. A new spike can potentially grow anywhere that hasn’t had a flower develop from it. You can also fertilise more regularly too with a good quality fertiliser - there are some good ones that you’re able to use with every water, though most growers tend to fertilise for three waters then plain water on the fourth (this said, fertilisation isn’t likely to be the problem - phals can last a couple of years without any fertiliser - but it does help them produce healthy blooms).

@Sassylimey · Answer

The best advice you can't get will be from @MotherOfOrchids she's the best when it comes to orchids, she's helped me so much.
Welcome to Greg Ali happy growing 🍃🌱🌿🙂

@MotherOfOrchids · Answer

@AbuEstezovich you are very welcome 😊.  I did exactly the same last summer - moved one of mine out of the sun and into a shadier room and it would grow a small leaf, stall and then try again with a new leaf. It took me a while to figure out light was the issue and I moved it back to its old spot and the next leaf it produced was back to being a healthy size. That’s how I learnt about their light requirements! I love that phals tell us when we’re doing something that they don’t like and it always leads to learning and knowing them better! Hopefully yours will pick up with a few weeks back in the light 😊

New orchid stem from already active node?

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