j_a,

Question for clarification: When you say " I don't know if it will be able
to grow a new top leaf though." is it only because it has not grown a new
leaf yet? If so, after just a couple of months it's still too early to give
up on a new leaf -- it may still grow a new one), or is it because the spike
came out of the top center of the crown (in which case, I believe it is
correct to say that the Phal will not be able to grow a new leaf)?

If you have access to alt.binaries.pictures.orchids, you might want to also
post a photo of the plant there, since this might help others assess whether
the plant looks healthy enough to support a spike.

Best,
Joanna

"unknown" wrote in message
...
so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a