There are two schools of thought on when to cut spikes. The first is when the plant is done blooming cut the spike all the way back to within 1/2 -1/4 inch of the bottom. The plant is now free to go through a growth cycle (new leaves, new roots) that will ultimately make it a stronger plant with lots of energy for the next bloom cycle. The second is to cut the existing spike back to 1-2 inches from the last node on the spike. Sometimes the plant will send out a secondary spike from the original. It's nice to have more flowers but the downside is the plant doesn't go through it's growth cycle and store up energy like it should. Flowers from secondary spikes are fewer and smaller than the initial bloom. (By now you can probably tell what camp I'm in!) For me it's not worth the 4-5 extra flowers if it jeopardizes next years bloom cycle. So when mine are done, I hack them off.
Should you decide to leave the spikes on it doesn't necessarily mean your plant won't bloom next year. It probably will. It just won't be as spectacular a show as it might have been had you cut the old spike down.
Linear Mode
