Orchid spikes and transplatting

[ianmh]

Hi Everyone,

I have two questions. I am still new to orchids. I bought several Phals this summer all in bloom. The flowers have since fallen off. I clipped off all the spikes and didn't expect to see new ones for awhile, but to my surprise almost all of them have new spikes, one of them is already several inches long. Is this normal? I'm thinking it's because they are in my Den and it
s getting very cold at night and triggering a new bloom cycle. Also how do I clip these new spikes onto the sticks? I have sticks and clips from the old flowers, but I'm not sure when you clip them? I don't want to damage the spikes.

My other question is on Transplanting. When I bought these orchids they looked like any orchid in the shop, but now some of them are just a mass of crazy roots shooting out everywhere at the base. They look like they need bigger pots. One in particular has almost 20 roots flying out of it.

I've attached a photo of the one with lots of roots and the one with long new spikes. The one with all the roots has two small spikes and the other side of this plant has a mass of roots everywhere also.

[cbuchman]

All those roots are signs of a happy orchid . No need to re-pot unless you have mushy/rotten roots or the medium is broken doesn't and does not dry out sufficiently. In general, a bigger pot isn't a good thing, since orchids like to be root bound and Phals in particular have the aerial roots that you see in your photos.

For staking the spike, You need to do this with a clean stake and a bit of twine or a clip. I typically put the stake in the pot as soon as I see the spike starting (it also help me be aware so I don't break it off). Once the spike can gently be clipped or tied to the stake, I start it. When trying to bend a spike, be VERY careful to not break it off. It only take a moment to lose your flowers

Good luck and good growing. These are clearly happy plants.

[escualida]

I also want to add that when you attach the spike to the stake, make sure to do it between two nodes, don't put the clip directly onto the node.

It looks like your orchids are in a clear plastic pot which is inside a ceramic cache pot. It might be beneficial to take the plastic pot out of the ceramic one and see how the roots look through the plastic and post a picture so we can see.

[The Orchid Boy]

If when staking, you accidently break the spike, the phal will grow a new spike from one of the nodes. Try and make sure that the twist ties, twine, clips, or whatever you use is not too tight. It can be firm but not squeezing tight. If you take the clear pot out of the ceramic pot, like escualida said, and leave them out of the ceramic pot and let the roots be exposed to light, it may encourage the plants to make less aeiral roots and make more roots in the pot instead.