On 2009-08-27 10:01:14 +0100, "john royce" said:

We have an orchid bought from lidle for several years ago and kept just
inside a south facing living room window in london.

We stand it in a bowl of tepid water for 20 mins every two weeks which seems
to have worked out alright. We do not mist it or stand it on wet pebbles.

It has just started pushing up a new shoot, but still has masses of old stem
from where flowers grew previously. The stem does not seem to be dying back
or the plant sucking back nutrients from these stems.

We would prefer to cut off the old stems as they are now a bit unsightly.
But do not want to do the wrong thing, (i.e. manybe the plant prefers to
keep them for some reason?).

Grateful for any advice. Thanks.

I have one I bought from M&S. It flowered well and then the flowers
dropped off and some stem died back. I cut the dead bit of stem off
and left the rest. It's now produced a flower bud on the remaining
stem, so I'd be inclined to leave yours alone!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon