How to spike?

[Call_Me_Bob]

i have some spikes starting, and im trying to figure out how and when to stake them. they are all on phalaenopsis

[tucker85]

I don't believe there's a rule. If you want it to grow straight up then stake it when it's long enough to stake without damaging the spike. Maybe 8" long or so. Place a stake as tall as you think the spike may grow so you don't have to replace it later. Place loose ties along the way so the spike can continue to grow undisturbed. The Main thing is to have the spike where you want it before the buds start to set because they somehow orient themselves to gravity so the bloom is upright. I've had some interesting displays by hanging the pot and letting the spike grow naturally. But I also like staked phals for indoors. Good luck. I hope you get lots of nice flowers.

[Call_Me_Bob]

cool, i am going to stake it up

another question though. the plant is so close to the light, that when the spike matures, it will be higher than the lights. would it be harmful to move the plant to a lower shelf were the spke would have more room to mature? the spike is one inch long. moving shelves would decrease the light though

[Jennyfleur]

Just a thought (as I've never had this problem) but maybe if the spike is above the level of light source before is has matured, it would try to bend back down towards the light. Especially when the spikes first start, mine have tended to go in the direction of the light, and I've found in the past that (unless I turn the plant for even light) some buds will actually turn around towards the light source and then open, rather than open on both sides of the spike. You might end up with problems like that if you don't keep the light above the level of the spike. Though like I said, it's just a thought.

PS Tucker, that Phal is gorgeous!

[Call_Me_Bob]

so it is OK to move it to a lower shelf were the spike wont go above the lights? but again, the light level would be a bit lower from moving shelves

[Jennyfleur]

I guess it all depends on how much lower the shelf is and how strong the light is to begin with. If you move it down, it's possible you'll get a longer spike out of it as it'll be striving for light, but I don't think it'd hurt to do that (you could always move it back once the flowers start to open in case they get fried by the light strength or if you think the plant is suffering). I have two Phal 'colonies' in the house, one is in a brighter place and one is in a much more shaded place, both sets seem to do just fine. So maybe the best thing is try to and see how goes, but I've generally found Phals quite adaptable - Sorry, I'm not being that helpful am I?!

[Call_Me_Bob]

the thing is, if i move it back up, there Wont Be Room For The Spike. the lights are a good 7" above the leaves of this phal. the spike is bound to be longer than that. so idk what to do

[Jennyfleur]

I see (yeah, I'd kinda forgotten the room problem which was the root of the question in the first place! Just got back home from work and I'm a bit ditsy at the moment!!). I still think it'd be ok to move it down. I haven't grown under lights, I admit, but it's not as if it's not going to get light in the new position, and a plant in winter is not going to get as much light as one in the summer anyways....

[Call_Me_Bob]

That really helped!! Thank you so much!

New question, kind of the same though. I have this phal that is mounted. It's huge. The leaves touch the shelf when its standing up. It also has a spike and there is absolutely no where to the spike to go. I'll get a poc if I can. Because reading back, it sounds very vauge

[Jennyfleur]

Oo, yes, I look forward to a picture. By no where for it to go, I assume that you mean it can't go up or down?? Have you thought 'horizontal'? I've seen some pretty weird things with Phal spikes (even two spikes from two plants trained up a couple of wires to make it look like a heart in bloom!)