Good point, Steve! Reading down the page, I see that I missed the comment about the plant losing
its "last" bloom.

Jon, if you're still interested...

Phals CAN sometimes rebloom from the same spike if you cut it off just below the point where the
lowest blossom formed (or above the 3rd node up from the base, which is often the same). Whether to
do that or not is, to some extent, a matter of choice.

If the plant is good and strong, it might not hurt it a bit. If it's a smaller plant or one that's
not as sturdy as it might be, it would be better to cut it off altogether, so the plant doesn't
waste more energy on flowers instead of building itself back up.

Personally, I tend to leave them alone, letting the plant decide for itself.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"Steve" wrote in message ...
Ray, did you notice he used the word node? Now, I suppose you could
say a multi-floral Paph has nodes but I just have a feeling he has a
Phal. I'll bet you $1.37 that he typed Paph. by mistake.

Steve
... waiting for John to return and tell me I'm full of prunes.

Ray wrote:
I suppose it depends on what species are in the background.

Some paphs only have a solitary blossom, so when it's gone, it's time to cut the spike off as
close
to the plant as possible. Others are multi-floral and usually sequential bloomers.

If there are still buds beyond where the flower was, do nothing. If not, cut away.



"John Carruthers" wrote in message
...

My new Paph just dropped its last bloom leaving a bare spike. Do
I now
leave it to its own devices, or snip the spike back to a node, or
right back to the base ?
jc

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