I am a new orchid grower and I have an orchid that has two flower stems.
One is over three feet long and another is two feet long. When will they
bloom? Should I stake it now or wait until it starts blooming?

Thank you, Deborah

Deborah,

Do you know what type of orchid it is? Does it have a label? If not, can you
post a photo of the plant to a Web site and send us a link (or if you have
access to alt.binaries.pictures.orchids post the photo there) -- this way we
could at least tell you whether it is more likely a Phal or a Dendrobium or
??

Two or three feet long spike is kind of late for staking. Be very careful
not to break the spike when you stake it. It is more usual to start staking
when the spike is a few inches long to have better control over which
direction the spike will grow.

On the other hand, staking is really done more for our benefit and not so
much for the benefit of the plant. If the spike is falling nicely and you
don't think it will be likely to be broken accidentally if left un-staked,
you could even leave it not staked. In nature the spikes do not get staked
after all.

There is no one rule fits all for when an orchid spike will start flowering.
Different orchid species tend to flower on different lengths of spike. Even
two orchids of the same species or hybrid might have individual differences.
One orchid might flower on a shorter spike, another might grow the spike
seemingly forever.

Do you already see any buds on either of these spikes?

Best,
Joanna

"Patrick Mullins" wrote in message
om...
I am a new orchid grower and I have an orchid that has two flower stems.
One is over three feet long and another is two feet long. When will they
bloom? Should I stake it now or wait until it starts blooming?

Thank you, Deborah

Patrick Mullins wrote:

I am a new orchid grower and I have an orchid that has two flower stems.
One is over three feet long and another is two feet long. When will they
bloom? Should I stake it now or wait until it starts blooming?

Thank you, Deborah

Please allow me the opportunity to give a warning that may apply, as new as I
may be to orchids....

I bought a Phal this Summer that had a prodigious spike with many buds on it.
The store had staked it straight up. By the time those buds bloomed, the weight
became more than the spike could handle, and it snapped.

All that I could think to do was to straighten out the snap and splint it with
an even longer stake. That worked for a few days until it snapped again a little
higher up, and I splinted that one, also.

Now, the blooms lasted quite a long time, and I can't say the snaps shortened
their life, but this is just to say that you can't beat gravity, and the plants
in the wild don't try. I didn't really consider the weight while awaiting those
first blooms.

(and my good luck....as soon as that spike was empty, out came another one. This
one was a bit shorter and with half as many blooms, but just as nice!)

Good luck with those!!!


Joe


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