Trying to Identify New Growth. And Where to Prune?
 

Hello everyone,

First post ever :)

I am very new to taking orchids seriously. I have always loved them, and trying my best for them, but never had the right conditions. Now, being in my own place with big windows and the ability to monitor humidity, water quality, air flow etc... we have been a little more successful.

First, my Phal has finally lost all of its flowers. I was wondering where you would suggest I should trim its stem to promote new growth. It is actually a rescue Phal. It was a gift bought from a grocery store that over watered the poor thing. But saved it fast enough that almost all of its roots were good. Now they are all healthy.

As well, I have seen this growth at the end of one of the spikes. Can anyone be so kind to identify it for me?

Many thank yous!

First, Welcome! Good save! At the tip of the old spike you'll see what looks like new buds starting, but probably won't. Unless you really can't stand looking at the bare spike, I'd suggest leaving it as long as it is still green. The plant can utilize the energy stored in the old spike, or might even do a side branch and produce some new flowers. It's not predictable, there's no harm at all just leaving it and watching to see what, if anything, it does. If it starts to turn brown, you can trim the old spike, of course. So the "trim or not" is mostly an aesthetic decision.

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Thank you so much Roberta! I will definitely leave the spike then. I am excited to see what happens.

Thank you for your help identifying the bud! Now I know what to look for. So even if it doesn’t continue to grow, I am super happy to see it forming anyway.

This is so helpful :)

welcome isabella,
I know the aim is to encourage as much flowering as possible but you need to keep the whole plant in a good shape. A phal will have to replace its leaves periodically to carry on flowering well year after year so leaf growth is vital to healthy flowering.
Don't focus on how to force a phal into flowering excessively, a healthy phal will flower as much as it can once it is happy.
The plant will decide when it is time to lose that spike - you can cut it before - but the plant will just lose some energy.
It might even start producing a new spike which will use up more energy but the aim is not to force it to flower as much as possible, the aim is to keep it's leaves growing well.
So I leave my spikes till the plant decided to recycle them and they turn brown by themselves, then I cut them.

:hello :llama:

Hi! Thank you Orchidtinkerer for your advice.

My sole aim isn’t just to have it flower, although to have it re-flower is one of my long term orchid dreams! My ultimate goal is to learn as much as I can about orchids, give them the best life I can as their caretaker, and watch its life cycles (which hopefully includes flowering!).

I also asked about the new bud because even though that was my best guess at what it was, I couldn’t believe it! It hadn’t lost all of its flowers yet, and I already saw a bud. It was a very surprising moment, as you could imagine.

Thank you about your information about the leaves and their cycles. I have seen some growth on my leaves, and a few new roots.

When I see browning and changes to the spike I will trim her down. That’s great advice.

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Hello :)

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Thank you! I love this forum. It’s great to hear from experts and to decipher all the info out there.

:lol:
:blushing: