New flower spike

[ladybree]

To my great excitement, my phal has a new flower spike. My concern is that it is growing straight towards the leaf above it. Should I try to somehow coax the spike to grow away from the leaf, or will it figure itself out?

I've been trying to upload a picture, but have not been successful. Any tips?

[Bud]

Do not worry, if you leave it alone it will grow longer and surpass the leaves ... maybe let it grow towards the light then let a stake guide it upright when it grows longer

[camille1585]

Don't worry, spikes usually figure it out on their own. Sometimes the spike will stay under the leaf and grow along it and in that case you can usually gently guide it out with a stake.

[Kelo]

I've had a couple that looked as if they were going to bloom under the eclipse of a leaf but they usually turn out fine.

[tucker85]

Don't worry. The plants are usually better than we are at figuring out what to do. They should be fine.

[ladybree]

Thank you all for your advice. I have turned the pot so that the spike will grow towards the light and away from the leaf.

This is my first phal and it has been quite exciting to see this new growth.

[RosieC]

I had one recently that did that, reached the leaf and started to turn back on it's self. That was the first point I noticed the spike, I just gently freed it from where it was pushing on the leaf and it popped to the side, and is now growing well just to one side of the leaf.

If you keep an eye on it then when it reaches the leaf you should be able to just encourage it to grow out. Most often they find their way on their own though.

[Starla]

I just grab them and attach them to a stake as soon as possible, just so they dont end up hanging over so much they cant support themselves later. I find if you dont stake it early then you have problems trying to later when they lose their flexibility!!

xx

[ladybree]

After a couple of days of changing the orientation of the pot, the flower spike is happily growing away from the leaf.

Now to do some research on when and how to stake the spike.