Aimee please share your secrets on what you did to cause this to happen.?? I've had it happen but making it happen is another story. I have Vandas pushing 7 feet and would sure be nice to have more plants rather than more height!!! So ungainly and prone to wind damage when they get too tall. I"ve tried clipping out the growing tip but usually results in a hunch back lol New growth just starting to the side of the clip and then resuming it's attempt to get even taller Would LOVE to be able to cause offsets.!! The worst IME are the strap leaf .Teretes or hybrids between being the easiest to prune to size so you get more plants Why in the world wouldn't you want it to offset??? They also flower and produce roots so result in a MUCH fuller, robust plant. gary

Provided there are not two plants in the pot you have a so-called Harlequin Type Phalaenopsis. Here is a link to a previous discussion. Previous discussion re. Harlequin type Phals.

It grows a basket - that's the name. If you look at the flower stalk - it always has a couple of leaflets where the bloomstalk - peduncle - branches up to pedicels - the short stems that end in individual flowers. Usually the bigger the leaflets the more chances the sleeping bud will wake up and give you the sucker. Some Streptocarpus hybrids throw these baskets all the time. You can harvest these plantlets and root them. It is very neat if it happens on Chimeras. Trailers do it more often in my experience. Especially happy trailers with a lot of growth hormone in them. I think when they get into heavy blooming - they will direct the energy into a sexual propagation instead of vegetative. Some varieties do it, some do not.

Without a doubt! Thrips. I have them and its a constant fight. They destroy all my buds. They are sucking insects and if you grow Gardenia's or Hibiscus, they are Thrip magnets. I'm considering cutting them down but my Gardenia is huge and beautiful. A good control is Spinosid (not sure of the spelling) . You have to spray every two weeks while the buds are forming. It is organic and safe to use. Thrips will attack all orchid buds. They love Vandas and Phals but will go after anything they can get their miserable mouths on! Sorry about your plant. I understand the frustration. I'm going through it too. Jane