Trimming flower sheaths

[fotofashion]

Somewhere, recently, I saw a photo of an orchid plant with the flower sheath trimmed about 1/2 or 1/3 of its length. In the past I have had problems (a few) with sheaths not opening up to let the flower buds emerge properly. Is trimming the sheath a common practice? And on which species is this practice recommended?
Right now I have several Cat. types that have formed sheaths and it feels like there are buds in there too. Instead of trimming the sheath, I have opened it along what appears to be a "seam". Is this preferrable to trimming? Thanks
Beverly A.

[Eyebabe]

I would not trim the sheath.
The sheath should open on its own.
Helping it open by splitting the seam when the sheath is "full" would not hurt imo...but I would not do it prematurely.

[peeweelovesbooks]

I would never trim a sheath until the flower is spent.

I think that's just inviting damage to the bloom.

[johnblagg]

I have read several posts about trimming sheaths like you are refering to to prevent the buds from blasting or rotting but I have no experiance myself at all on this ......
they say some catts make double sheaths and the buds may have a hard time emerging from them this is also another reason they say to so this sometimes.

unless you are having a problem with buds rotting or getting stuck I would not ...

[orchidsamore]

Sheats sometimes do damage the buds by failing to open, but this probably means the bud was not developing well and was not strong.

Cutting part of the sheat will create a cup into which water can be captured. This is a quick site to rot. It is very risky when orchids are outdoors in the rain, but less so indoors where location of the water can be controlled more.

Pealing back the sheat has two problems. It is easy to break the bud. Second when successful it exposes a bud that is not strong enough to hold itself properly. They often fail to mature properly.

In general the risk of losing a bud is greater with either of these methods than the rare bud that fails to split the sheat.

[fotofashion]

Thanks guys. I'll just have to keep an eye on any emerging buds from now on. Seems like last year I had a couple of problems with the sheath drying out and not letting the buds emerge properly.
Beverly A.

[Gin]

The sheath supports the stem with bud until it hardens off if opened to soon it allows it to bend over sometimes breaking it if a large heavy bloom . I prefer not to ..Just my