Phal - stem questions

[NTN]

I've been taking care of my very first orchid for a few months now, soaking it in water once a week, nothing special.
It lost its flowers a few weeks after I got it and the two stems seemed to dry out so I cut them off, only leaving about 3 inches. After a while a new stem started to grow and now it has 7 healthy buds.
What should I do with the old stems? Will they recover and grow again or should I cut them off completely?
Also, I was surprised that it started blooming in the middle of winter, especially in Sweden since our winters are dark and quite cold (15-30 F). I thought I'd have to wait until summer to see some new flowers. During which periods do phals bloom?

[RobS]

Normally you should only cut them bag to a healthy eye / node. You can cut some higher then shown. Every node is an oppertunity to flower.

YouTube - OrchidWeb - Where to cut your Phalaenopsis flower spike

[camille1585]

While what RobS says is true, it's not the 'rule'. Where to cut is a matter of personally preference, and also depends if the spike starts to yellow after losing the blooms.

On a spike that stays green, you can cut back to right above a node like RobS says, which will usually force a side spike to start. However usually that spike will have less blooms and the plant is also more likely to produce less floriferous spikes next time it makes a new spike.

The other option is to cut the spike all the way down to the bottom. If the spike starts to yellow after losing the flowers you cut it down completely anyways, since it won't do anything more.

Where to cut is a matter of personal preference, it depends what you want. I personally do not believe in forcing the plant to bloom again. I would rather have a strong plant that can make good strong spikes in it's next natural blooming.

As for your plant blooming in the middle of winter, that's the normal blooming period for most phals. Phals induce their spikes in early fall, in response to a lowering of the overall temperature. A spike takes about 3 months to develop, so most plants start to bloom between november and february.

[BobInBonita]

I personally am a glutton for flowers and immediate gratification.

I don't cut the spike on a phal unless it dries out / turns brown. Then I cut only the dry part off.

Hasn't seemed to hurt the plants, although I understand that blooming takes energy. Maybe I'm lucky or maybe the fact that I grow in relatively high light for phals (slight reddish tint on leaves) helps.

[Royal]

I leave all my spikes on as long as they stay green. If they start to yellow, I cut them completely off.

[NTN]

Thanks for the replies, everybody.
One of my buds just blossomed into a beautiful flower, but the weird thing is it seems to be incomplete. It's missing the red center, which my original set of flowers had (as seen in the following pic):

Phalaenopsis

What gives?

[RosieC]

Occasional mutations happen. See what the next flower is like, it could be normal.

I bought one that had a single mutant flower out of about a dozen. It had the center missing and two petals and two sepals instead of the correct parts. The rest of the flowers on the stem were normal.