Finished flowering...what to do next?

[Kotek]

Hello! I am a novice orchid owner. I rescued my beautiful candy stripe Phal from a place I used to work at; they were going to through it out just because it had stopped blooming! It had a baby leaf growing...obviously still living. Anyway, to make a long story short, it has rewarded me richly for saving its life and just finished a fabulous bloom of 15 flowers that spanned approximately 5 months. Now I'm not sure what to do...last time it finished blooming, I just cut the spike 2-3 nodes from the last flower (I got that advice from another orchid website) and it bloomed beautifully. but now I'm not sure if I should cut it again, as I have since learned from other people that you shouldn't cut a spike unless it is withered and dead...is that true?
I have added some pictures of what it looked like when it was blooming, what it looks like right now. I'm new to growing orchids.... any advice on how to best care for my orchid would be much appreciated!
Thank you!

[nutgirl]

It looks like it rewarded you well for your kindness!

You can leave the spike on if you want to see if it will bloom again. Personally I feel a plant that has been blooming for 5 months needs a rest.

I cut mine above the first node green or not.

Have you repotted or checked the roots since you got it?

Spring is coming and would be a good time to repot when new roots start.

Welcome.

Maureen

[camille1585]

Seeing as the plant has already been forced to rebloom from the cut spike once, it's probably best not to force it to bloom again. I usually leave the spikes on as long as their green, and then cut them off while their completely brown. That way if the plant has decided it's done then the spike with wither, but if it feels good enough it may surprise you again. However there's nothing wrong with cutting it all the way off if you want.