Odd orchid experiments

I know that it is normal for phalaenopsis orchids to form plantlets, called keiki on their flowering stalks but what makes this unusual is that it formed on a cut stem in a glass of water.

When I got this phalaenopsis, the flower stems had been trained on wires and when I repotted it in bark, I took the wires out but didn't cut the flower stalk after blooming and it continued to flower every spring on the same flower stalk. One morning I found that the flower stalk had broken off, I know orchids are sold as cut flowers so I popped the stalk into some water and it continued flowering, even the unopened buds opened.

It took a few weeks before all the flowers finally withered and by the time they were done, the flower stalk remained alive and I noticed a tiny bud had formed about half-way down the stalk. Curious to see what would happen next, I left the stalk in the water and added some orchid fertiliser. The bud developed very, very slowly and a week or two ago, this was the result. The new keiki will still need to make its own roots so I will leave it in the water.

It goes to show that you shouldn't write off old flower stalks and I have never cut mine, because they kept on blooming. I am curious to see whether the parent plant will make new ones