Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Sailer
Leaving the green leaved stem after the flowering makes great sense. It's still gathering sun and giving energuy to the plant so let it be.
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Another reason to leave the stem... the top part that had the flowers may be fairly useless, but farther down, even if it looks rather dead, it's likely to be still green. Think of it as a pseudobulb, serves the same function. When the really spent part turns brown, it's brittle and you can snap it off, leaving the useful part of the plant. I learned that on Barkeria, a relative of Epidendrum. I cut what looked dead, found that it was green, is actually the part needed to generate the following year's plant and flowers. After a few "Oh sh@#$#%" reactions and plants that were set back, I learned to not cut things... when they're really done they're easy to break off - a year later when the new growth is well underway.
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