siamese twins?
 

I just picked up two new phals, or perhaps it is four (I haven't repotted
them yet - they just arrived at the store only yesterday, so their staff did
not have a chance to unduly stress them ;-). The plants in both pots look
for all the world like siamese twins (both about the same size), joined at
the hip, er root. There are lots of leaves, and two inflorescences, in each
pot. SO, did someone screw up and pot two phals in each pot, or leave two
seedlings planted so close together they couldn't be separated without
killing them, or do phals occassionally grow in such a way that they look
like siamese twins? What's your best guess as to what happened? It will be
at least a week before I get around to repotting them.

Cheers,

Ted

siamese twins?
 

Ted Byers wrote:
I just picked up two new phals, or perhaps it is four (I haven't repotted
them yet - they just arrived at the store only yesterday, so their staff did
not have a chance to unduly stress them ;-). The plants in both pots look
for all the world like siamese twins (both about the same size), joined at
the hip, er root. There are lots of leaves, and two inflorescences, in each
pot. SO, did someone screw up and pot two phals in each pot, or leave two
seedlings planted so close together they couldn't be separated without
killing them, or do phals occassionally grow in such a way that they look
like siamese twins? What's your best guess as to what happened? It will be
at least a week before I get around to repotting them.

Cheers,

Ted


post pictures to abpo please so we can see

Karen

siamese twins?
 

I'll guess one in each pot is a kieke. Its two for one when you decide to
divide.

Bob
"Ted Byers" wrote in message
.. .
I just picked up two new phals, or perhaps it is four (I haven't repotted
them yet - they just arrived at the store only yesterday, so their staff
did
not have a chance to unduly stress them ;-). The plants in both pots look
for all the world like siamese twins (both about the same size), joined at
the hip, er root. There are lots of leaves, and two inflorescences, in
each
pot. SO, did someone screw up and pot two phals in each pot, or leave two
seedlings planted so close together they couldn't be separated without
killing them, or do phals occassionally grow in such a way that they look
like siamese twins? What's your best guess as to what happened? It will
be
at least a week before I get around to repotting them.

Cheers,

Ted

siamese twins?
 

Ted,

First....don't repot them yet! Enjoy the flower show for now.

There could be two explainations. First is that a dormant bud at the base
of the plant decided to grow and you have one plant with two growing points.
Some phals are prone to this and you probably do not want to divide them
unless there is a real desire to have two plants. In this case you really
are conducting surgery on the plant and causing stress. If they have a
pleasant appearance I would leave them grow together and create a great big
phal. This is akin to what happens when a phal gets crown rot and throws
off another plant from under the medium. It's a good thing!

The other explaination is that when someone was de-flasking the tiny
seedlings they had two of them that were entangled. In this case you have
two different plants that are growing together. Do the flowers look
identical? If they appear different then this is most likely the case. I
would not divide them until the phal has finish blooming. Since the roots
are entangled at this point. When you divide them you will break the
healthy roots and stress the plants. This will probably cause the
buds/flowers to drop. If it were my plant I'd enjoy the flowers for now and
when I cut the spike I'd divide it then.

You could just let them go for a long time. In nature when two phals grow
next to each other there's no gardener there to divide them. The stronger
plant will crowd out the weaker plant or they will co-exist. In your case
if they are compatible varieties (same water, light, heat requirements) they
may live for years in the same pot.

Good growing,
Gene



"Ted Byers" wrote in message
.. .
I just picked up two new phals, or perhaps it is four (I haven't repotted
them yet - they just arrived at the store only yesterday, so their staff
did
not have a chance to unduly stress them ;-). The plants in both pots look
for all the world like siamese twins (both about the same size), joined at
the hip, er root. There are lots of leaves, and two inflorescences, in
each
pot. SO, did someone screw up and pot two phals in each pot, or leave two
seedlings planted so close together they couldn't be separated without
killing them, or do phals occassionally grow in such a way that they look
like siamese twins? What's your best guess as to what happened? It will
be
at least a week before I get around to repotting them.

Cheers,

Ted

siamese twins?
 

"Bob Walsh" wrote in message
et...
I'll guess one in each pot is a kieke. Its two for one when you decide to
divide.

That was my first thought, too. But it may not be. See Gene's reply.

Ted

siamese twins?
 

"Gene Schurg" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Ted,

First....don't repot them yet! Enjoy the flower show for now.

OK, if I must. ;-)

There could be two explainations. First is that a dormant bud at the base
of the plant decided to grow and you have one plant with two growing
points.
Some phals are prone to this and you probably do not want to divide them
unless there is a real desire to have two plants. In this case you really
are conducting surgery on the plant and causing stress. If they have a
pleasant appearance I would leave them grow together and create a great
big
phal. This is akin to what happens when a phal gets crown rot and throws
off another plant from under the medium. It's a good thing!

They do look quite interesting and attractive: enough so that I was tempted
to leave them growing together.

The other explaination is that when someone was de-flasking the tiny
seedlings they had two of them that were entangled. In this case you have
two different plants that are growing together. Do the flowers look
identical? If they appear different then this is most likely the case. I
would not divide them until the phal has finish blooming. Since the roots
are entangled at this point. When you divide them you will break the
healthy roots and stress the plants. This will probably cause the
buds/flowers to drop. If it were my plant I'd enjoy the flowers for now
and
when I cut the spike I'd divide it then.

The flowers on the two inflorascences in each pot look identical, apart from
their orientation being screwed up by some bozo staking the inflorescences
after some buds had already opened (and shoving one of the stakes right
through the middle of a leaf). At first I thought the second was a keiki,
but I had second thoughts because the two growths are about the same size in
each pot.

You could just let them go for a long time. In nature when two phals grow
next to each other there's no gardener there to divide them. The stronger
plant will crowd out the weaker plant or they will co-exist. In your case
if they are compatible varieties (same water, light, heat requirements)
they
may live for years in the same pot.

And I'd guess they'd be more likely to coexist if given plenty of everything
they need, so they really don't have to compete for anything. Certainly it
will be straight forward to ensure there is enough light, water and
nutrients so that neither will decline. I just hope that the medium stays
in good enough shape for them to thrive until after the display is done and
I can repot.

Cheers,

Ted

siamese twins?
 

post pictures to abpo please so we can see

I would if I could, but I don't have a digital camera. Anyone want to
donate one? ;-)

I may get one later this year, so when I get them to rebloom next year, I
may be in a position to post some images.

Cheers,

Ted

siamese twins?
 

Ted,

I doubt that the medium is that far gone that it will kill the plant in the
next month or two while the flowers are at peak. If you think it's degraded
just underwater a bit to keep the air around the roots.

Enjoy the show!

Gene

siamese twins?
 

If the plant came from a box store or discount store, it is two plants.
Kerry's Bromelliards is now potting two to a pot and they wholesale to
these stores. It not only provides more blooms to the pot, but if one
doesn't make it at the nursery, it is still a salable plant.

siamese twins?
 

Ted,

Actually, you can still post to the binaries group if you ask for your
photos to be delivered to you on a disk in addition to the usual printed
copies. You can even edit them if you have the right program. In any
event, you can upload right from the disk.

Diana