David Hewitt wrote:

My phalaenopsis has flowered beautifully for several months but the flowers
dropping off now. As a complete novice to orchids my question is this... do
I prune back the plant and if so how far back and at what time of year?



And since this is the single most popular question about orchids, it
is remarkable that the American Orchid Society culture sheets don't seem
to address it. I checked...

Do not prune the plant. You may, at your discretion, remove the
spent inflorescence (flower spike), just the same as you would deadhead
a geranium or a rose. Cut it off reasonably near to the foliage. Yes,
you can sometimes get more flowers if you cut it higher (about the
middle would probably work), but in my opinion it stresses the plant too
much and just starts to look ugly after a while. I usually compromise
by leaving the inflorescence on the plant until it turns completely dry
and brown- but that may not look so nice.

Since phalaenopsis grow upwards (monopodial - one footed), new
leaves emerge from the crown of the plant. If you damage the crown you
will have problems. Keep water out of it as much as possible. You may
(and will) loose leaves from the bottom, usually one at a time, and
usually concurrent with the growth of new leaves at the top. This is
completely normal. If you start to lose more leaves than you grow, then
you should start worrying. New flower spikes will emerge from the base
of the plant.

That is a start. You have probably already found the AOS culture
sheets, here is one for Phalaenopsis:

http://www.orchidweb.org/orchids/culture/phal2.pdf

Rob

--
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