GardenBanter.co.uk - Phalaenopsis flower spike

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 13:59:53 GMT, "Jimmy Lloyd"
wrote:

I'm new to raising orchids and have a few Phalaenopsis orchids. One of the
orchids has finished flowering on one of its spikes. Do I cut this spike off
or do I trim the spike? If I trim the spike where do I trim it? I would like
for the plant to continue to flower but I'm not sure what to do at this
point. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Jimmy

This trim all depends on your beliefs about how well the plant is
growing. Most Phal will send a secondary branch off the main
inflorescence, but they will also continue this style bloom until
they die. So the question is: Did your plant put out a new
center leaf? Has it been in bloom over several months (3 or 4)?
How big is your plant? Does the rest of the plant appear very
healthy?

Now that you have decided which cut you wish to make:

The trim that removes the least would start at the first little
node on the inflorescence going from the flower closest to the
plant, back toward the plant. You cut the section of the
inflorescence off that held the flowers. Cut 1/4 inch toward the
flowers or just above the node. If your plant is going to branch
this node is where the branch will start.

If on the other hand you decide to rest the plant until next
year, you will trim the entire inflorescence off at the base of
the plant. Some like a 1inch stem others like it trimmed as
close as you can safely cut.

There is a chance that even if you cut long, the plant will
decide to rest. It may dry the inflorescence out to a brown
stick or it may just not branch until next season. A couple of
suggestions to help it grow well between now and then,
Immediately after bloom drop is generally a good time to repot
these plants. They like to have a temp. drop of at least 10
degrees between day and night. Most will not start a new
inflorescence next season without this temp shift.

Good growing

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php