Phal Spikes: To Cut of Not...

[quiltergal]

I've had good luck with rerouting aerial roots back into the medium. Most of the time the velamin will crack but as long as the whole root doesn't break off it's still viable crack and all. I bend them down and gently push them down into the medium trying very carefully to not damage the growing tip. Often even if the tip is damaged it will start to grown again.

[natasha]

i get one secondary spike on one of my phals. others are still with the old spike and no seconds yet. 1-2 lose the old spike. note that i cut the spike halfway after the second node after flowers drop and i only have a handful flowering ones.

my neighbour on the other hand, didn't cut hers at all. many develop into keikis and no secondary spike at all. i didn't get any phal keikis at all!

note that both of us have different phals, mostly noids.

on the other hand, while mother nature didn't run around with a pair of scissors, how the naturally induced keikis going to get down from the sky high condo? or, in nature phal keikis aren't produced?

[lais817]

Originally Posted by natasha

i get one secondary spike on one of my phals. others are still with the old spike and no seconds yet. 1-2 lose the old spike. note that i cut the spike halfway after the second node after flowers drop and i only have a handful flowering ones.

my neighbour on the other hand, didn't cut hers at all. many develop into keikis and no secondary spike at all. i didn't get any phal keikis at all!

note that both of us have different phals, mostly noids.

on the other hand, while mother nature didn't run around with a pair of scissors, how the naturally induced keikis going to get down from the sky high condo? or, in nature phal keikis aren't produced?

I'm no expert, but I'd say in nature, as Phals normally grow on tree trunks and the like, the spike with keikis attached will gradually bend under the weight of the growing keikis, and eventually come to a point where the baby plants can attach themselves to the host tree's bark and start living on their own.

[natasha]

Originally Posted by lais817

I'm no expert, but I'd say in nature, as Phals normally grow on tree trunks and the like, the spike with keikis attached will gradually bend under the weight of the growing keikis, and eventually come to a point where the baby plants can attach themselves to the host tree's bark and start living on their own.

yeah, that is possible too... but i think the mother plant would be exhausted producing the keikis...