Help with spike pruning

[Stefus_Prime]

Hello everyone, I have a phalaenopsis that has pretty big spikes (two 24-26'' ones an two more that are close to a foot), the problem is that these spikes all have "branches" on them from old blooms. These branches are contorted all over the place and it leads a lot to be desired aesthetically and it makes any transport a pain. So my question is, how do I go about pruning these branches without losing the spikes? My other Phal had spikes that were a similar length and they both fell off after some time, this is something I'd like to avoid for a while if possible.

I tried to include a pic but the forum says it was denied ( I used tinypic) so if there's some way for me to post the pic that I'm unaware of I would gladly do that

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by Stefus_Prime

Hello everyone, I have a phalaenopsis that has pretty big spikes (two 24-26'' ones an two more that are close to a foot), the problem is that these spikes all have "branches" on them from old blooms. These branches are contorted all over the place and it leads a lot to be desired aesthetically and it makes any transport a pain. So my question is, how do I go about pruning these branches without losing the spikes? My other Phal had spikes that were a similar length and they both fell off after some time, this is something I'd like to avoid for a while if possible.

I tried to include a pic but the forum says it was denied ( I used tinypic) so if there's some way for me to post the pic that I'm unaware of I would gladly do that

If the spike is brown, cut it down to the base. Otherwise, cut it down to about 2-3 growth nodes from the base to encourage it to rebloom.

If you have not already done so, read The Phal Abuse ends here", the sticky at the beginning of this Forum. It should answer your question. If not, go to the Search button on the OB forum and type in cutting Phal spikes. There are 72 threads on this specific topic!



CL

[Stefus_Prime]

Thanks, I will give the thread a read. The thing is everywhere I see people have very straight foreward orchids that they are trying to prune, mine on the other hand looks like an interstate highway lol. The spikes are very thick and healthy. The site isn't let me post URLs so I can't show you the picture I took.

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Stefus_Prime

Thanks, I will give the thread a read. The thing is everywhere I see people have very straight foreward orchids that they are trying to prune, mine on the other hand looks like an interstate highway lol. The spikes are very thick and healthy. The site isn't let me post URLs so I can't show you the picture I took.

You need to make 5 posts before you can add photos. I believe you should be able to upload to your gallery before that.

[Stefus_Prime]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

You need to make 5 posts before you can add photos. I believe you should be able to upload to your gallery before that.

Thanks for the welcome! So I browsed around, gave some input and asked some questions and now I'm at 5 posts but still can't post links so I'll just post it like this and hope it doesn't anger the mods.

i47.tinypic dot com/a163oh.jpg

[WhiteRabbit]

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ng-photos.html

[Stefus_Prime]

Finally got it to post!




As you may or may not be able to see (sorry about the poor lighting) branches are growing everywhere, I really don't want to kill the spikes since they're pretty big (over 2ft) so I'd like some input on how to proceed.

[RosieC]

Sometimes the spikes will die back naturally. It's nothing to worry about and the plant will produce more when it's ready.

If they stay green and you want to leave them as they are then go for it. They might grow new flowers and some people like to leave them. You don't need to cut them back to get new flowers on them although cutting just above a node can encourage it to happen. I prefer not to do that even when I leave the spikes as some believe it can force a plant to bloom even if the plant is not strong enough.

Personally I find the plant hard to manage with large spikes, so I cut them down each time it blooms and let the plant grow new spikes each time.

[Paddle_grl]

I think it looks pretty the way it is! I have no advice for "pruning" as I usually let them brown out or re bloom.

[Orquiadicto]

I've had this with some Phals as well.
When the branches were finished blooming, I just cut them off and it didn't affect the spike. Put some cinnamon powder on the cut to prevent infections and that's all you have to do.