"john royce" wrote in message
...
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.

You can safely cut the old flower stem back. If it is brown and dry, cut it
back as far as you safely can (from where it stems) without bruising any
healthy material. If any of it is green and you want to retain it, cut back
to a node (visible annulation on stem with tiny leaflike bract). As Sacha
says, you may get a flower. I got a new baby orchid (called a keiki) which,
when large enough, I potted on. It now has a flower stem.

You do not say if you are feeding your orchid. Nor do you say which type of
orchid it is, but if it is trying to flower again, it may be a good idea to
feed it. Feeding and watering varies depending on the type of orchid you
have, so it may be wise to get a book for guidance; labels don't seem to be
very helpful. I feed my orchids every 7 to 10 days, using a slightly weaker
solution than suggested. Every 4th watering, the plant should be flushed
through with plain water to rid the soil of any build up of salts from the
chemical feed.

Spider