Phalaenopsis Organization (finally!), New Growth and Flower Spikes, Oh My!

So back when I first started collecting orchids, I didn't really think about tracking their progress or marking the ones I lost/did not survive (it happens).  A while back, I happened to come across an article on tracking orchids that had a really nifty template within it for Excel sheets, but it was a bit too complex and some of the functions just wouldn't work.  Despite this, it gave me the idea to create a spreadhseet in Google Sheets to inventory and track my orchids.

You can view that spreadsheet on my main website page at: https://sites.google.com/view/orchidjourney/orchids/orchid-collection

When I started filling out the inventory sheet, all of my Phalaenopsis

orchids were in "dormancy" or I otherwise couldn't identify them by color or size.  Seeing as how all of the Phalaenopsis orchids I have didn't come with an ID tag on them, the only way I could track them was by bloom color.

Yesterday, I used our 3D printer and printed out plant tags for these orchids. On the tops of the tags, I have numbered them 1-8 and when they come in bloom, I'll write the bloom color on them to better identify them.

I'll need to print some more soon as my keikis are getting close to being snipped off the mother plant and put into their own pot.  The root systems of the keikis are wrapped in mesh in the image above.

More info on what Keikis are: https://www.better-gro.com/orchid-blogs/what-is-an-orchid-keiki-how-do-i-care-for-it

I also have new growth coming from about half of my Phals whether it be a new leaf growing or a new flower spike emerging.  One of my Phals that has a keiki also has a flower spike growing off of it with buds developing which is totally new for me!  I'm so excited to see this baby keiki bloom!

Up close image of the base of the Keiki where the flower spike is stemming from it.

A full image of the flower spike coming from the base of the keiki.

An up close image of the flower spike from the keiki with buds developing

Now with this being said, I will likely wait until the buds have bloomed and finished before I cut this keiki away from the mother plant and put it into its own pot.  I don't want to potentially damage the plant or "stunt" it by cutting it too early since its putting its energy into creating flowers.  For the other keikis, I'll still stick by the 3x3 rule of 3 roots with roots about 3 inches long before I snip off from the mother.

I am not an expert by any means when it comes to orchids, but I must be doing something right with them as they are all super happy and just thriving and that just makes me so happy!