Was I supposed to use a stake?

[tokyo]

I have a Paph. fairrieanum and it recently budded. But before it could bloom the stalk bent over and became soft. Was I supposed to tie it to a stake?

I have browsed through as much beginner material as I could find, but didn't see any mention of using stakes. But when I look at pictures of orchids in shows they seem to always be staked.

Also, should my paph flower again this winter or does it only do it once a year?

[Daethen]

You shouldn't HAVE to stake it, but it does show off the bloom better. Each growth on the plant will only flower once so if this is a single growth plant you will have to wait for it to produce a new one. Pictures would help everyone diagnose.

[Zoi2]

I do not believe you lost the bloom because it was not staked. How is your humidity?
Joann

[RosieC]

I argree with the comments above, that you should not have to stake it, they should be able to support themselves, it's just a stake can help train it to be in the place you want it.

I would think something else has gone wrong to cause this.

[tokyo]

Thanks for the help.

I am in New England and its winter, so their is very little humidity. But when I bought the orchid the profile said that it didn't need alot of humidity. Maybe that was relative to other orchids.

Should it be misted with a spray bottle regularly when it flowers?

Another possibility is that it was bumped into. Its not actually my orchid, but my girlfriends. She is finishing her last year of college and had the orchid in her dorm. It's possibly that someone or something bumped into it. Although she said she was very careful around it.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Is the whole spike soft, or just a certain area. I agree with the above comments, that stake usually just shows the flowers off better, but there is some hybrids of various alliances that due to hybridization for large flowers, the spikes might not be strong enough to support to fully opened flowers.

[tokyo]

Originally Posted by TheBlazingAugust

Is the whole spike soft, or just a certain area. I agree with the above comments, that stake usually just shows the flowers off better, but there is some hybrids of various alliances that due to hybridization for large flowers, the spikes might not be strong enough to support to fully opened flowers.

Well it was soft and shriveled about half way up. I have since removed it though, as it was completely laying down and getting worse by the day. I figured it would be better for the plant to not be wasting its energy on a dead flower.