Well if a spike is coming out from the crown, then that means the plant
is dead pretty much, unless it grows some keiki. But given the size of
the plant, that may be very possible. All vandaceous plants are
monopodial right?

And yes, as mentioned, the top leaves should be as large, at least, as
the lower leaves. Smaller leaves usually suggest root problems at the
time of growth....

Cheers,
Xi

Kenni Judd wrote:

I wouldn't rush. When plants (or anything else) are priced ridiculously
low, there's usually a reason.

In this case, it sounds like the plants may have been in decline for some
time -- except for the very top one or two that may be in active growth, the
leaves should be at least as long as the ones immediately below. Also, it
should not be flowering from the very top; usually, it's near the 5th mature
leaf down. It sounds like the plant has been pushed to flower so often
that it's outrun itself.

Good growing,