compost for dendrobiums

[got ants]

gaynes, the whole thing about orchid "compost" bothers me. Generally new potting material should be fresh, not composting.

Maybe it's a language barrier, but most potting mediums are replaced when they start breaking down.."composting".

As for flower spikes, depending on the plant, some rebloom or produce keikis, which are miniature new plants. The rule of thumb I use is only cut when brown. Even if I know the plant is not going to rebloom or keiki, I wait for the flower stalk to recycle nutrients back into the plant.