Help! Broke stem (among other things)..now what

[ValGal1995]

I can cry...I have managed to not kill my orchids for 3 years. I finally purchased rods and clips so i can straighten it out some and it snapped completely off (the white one). The purple one snapped but not completely.

Is the purple stalk hopeless? Will another stem grow & produce?

How do I repot these plants or are they beyond that?

I have been having houseplants the past year and enjoying them but I know absolutely nothing and Orchids seem a little challenging.

Any input on the state of these plants is beyond appreciated and I will not be offended. And this is the first time I ever did this URL thing for pictures so I am hoping it works.

[Ray]

Welcome aboard, Val.

The most important thing you can do is learn from the experience. “Staking” the flower spike should done as “guidance” as it grows, directing it upwards while the new tissue is still supple. Trying to straighten an already grown inflorescence will almost always snap it.

As to the plant with the partial break, if you let it settle back to the way it was before attempting to stake it, then wrap some tape around it so the pieces stay aligned without movement, there might be a slim chance the blossoms will survive.

Yes, both plants can bloom again. You just need to understand their needs. Two threads here can be a big help:

The Phal abuse ends here and Basic orchid growing in a nutshell.

[ValGal1995]

Thank you for replying. I will read over the posts you referenced this evening. Will they talk about the “overflow” if roots and repotting? The white one was done once already and survived but it didn’t have nearly as many sprawling roots as now.

[Blueszz]

Besides tape you can use a match or something similar to give extra support to the spike that snapped partially.
Align the match with the stem and then wrap the tape around it. Multiple layers is ok.

In the past it turned out well for me.

[Waterdog111]

I repair my necturine tree last year that had totally broken over to the ground. It is upright and fully leaved out this year.



I had to redo this from what this shows but it did recover

[FranningtonBear]

I snapped a flower spike on my “over achieving” , super reliable blooming NOID phal a couple of months ago and was mortified. This spike had grown down, through the lower leaf and was heading towards the medium. With hindsight, I should have just trusted the plant to sort itself out but… hindsight.
Good, reliable orchid that it is, has given me a much thinner, shorter spike carrying fewer blooms than usual, but it has certainly lived up to its over achieving reputation!
In the attached images orange arrows show the new spikes and the purple arrow is the one I clumsily broke.