Does spike need light?

[Calbears]

I have a supermarket variety noid oncidium/odontoglossum hybrid on a bench in my garage w/ a 4x4' T5HO. It's spiking now and the spike is about 3 feet long. I had staked the spike but now it's outgrown the stake and the top 8-12 inches of the spike is now higher than the light fixture. My question is, do inflorescences need light to develop properly? Should I move my fixture up so the spike gets light, or will it bloom as long as the foliage gets the light it needs?

Thanks for the input.

[jeremyinsf]

I do not grow oncidiums so I can't speak directly to them, but my experience with all my other orchids is that inflorescence's and then flowers grow towards the light source. When mine grow 'outside' of the lights range, they tend to grow towards something else - like a natural window. Without seeing your setup it's hard to say what they will do. One thing that might help you decide - when something spikes and develops flowers, I move it father away from the lights anyway. This makes the flowers develop slower and stronger (and reduces the chances of getting burned under the light anyway). I have several different shelves at different heights so this is easy for me to do. Not sure if you could do the same, just throwing out my own thoughts and ways for consideration. Having said that, I don't have any three feet spikes under my T5's...

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works out!

[shushu45]

oncidiums as I understand grow long spikes to begin with.

[FSUOrchids]

Yeah my Beallara Marfitch Howard's Dream can grow 3-4 foot spikes.

[james mickelso]

No. The leaves need the light and the inflorescence is growing from the energy in the pbulb. But the spike will try and grow to the light source if it can.