Should I cut this back or not?

[Justine]

Hi everyone! One of my phals is about to drop its last bloom, so I was just thinking it's almost time to cut the flower spike down. Then I happened to notice some little green tips at the very top of the stalk, above the final wilting flower (picture attached). I have not seen any of my other phals do this, so I guess I was wondering if the green tips signify new growth, or if I should go ahead and cut it back as planned.

What do you all think??

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You can wait till the stalk dries up.

[Vina]

I don't cut them untill stalks dry up. They can re-bloom from dormant buds.

[Daethen]

Personally I would wait. If it goes brown then it has died and should be cut back. If it is like one of my minis, it will get longer and form new buds/flowers. Or it may wait a while and throw out a side spike from the original. If the plant seems healthy enough to keep blooming, let it.

[camille1585]

If you see new green tip growing on the spike, it's probably starting to elongate again to make more buds Some phals do this and others don't, it seems to depend a lot on their genetics.

In general, unless a plant is sick or weak, you can leave the spike until it turns brown, you never know if it might surprise you with something!

[RosieC]

Sometimes I would cut it off, sometimes I would leave it, for me it's a case of the look of the plants in my house and is as simple a decision as whether I want a 'straggly' spike hanging arround.

If the spike is green and the tip is showing signs of growing a new bud you may want to leave it. However sometimes these tips can stay that way for months without growing further.

If I have a plant in my living room I like it to look neat... so I cut the spikes even if they stay green. I know they'll grow a new one eventually.

If a plant usually lives elsewhere in the house, then I will often leave them if they stay green or look like more flowers may appear.

It's really up to you if you want to leave it or not.

If the spike turns brown and dry up then nothing else will come for it, so I would always remove those.