To cut or not to cut the stems
 

I resently recieved a phalenopsis.:) It has two main stems with one of the main steams having three branches on it. It had amazing flowers and tons of buds until one weekend. (This orchid stayed in my office.) Over the weekend ALL the flowers and buds were gone. :bua: I'm not sure what happened. I have brought this plant home to care of it. The stems are still green and they look like they have new growth on the tips. Should I cut the stems? I am getting confused by everything I am reading online.

The light or temperature in the office may have changed on the weekend they may lower it if no ones there. If thats the case then that could be enough for the blooms to drop off. Your plant is still probably fine otherwise. posting some pictures if you can would help us determine if there is a problem though.

I wouldn`t cut them because they could still be ready to throw out new buds.

I sometimes cut spikes even if they still look green and have something at the end that looks like it can grow, but other times I leave them.

A green spike can sit for months without the ends actually doing anything (even if it looks like they are about to). I've had one sitting with all it's branched spikes for 6 months now doing nothing. The spikes are alive, just doing nothing.

Some people remove them for the look of the thing and if you do then it will grow a new spike when it is ready to flower again (I do this quite often as well).

It's really a matter of personal preference.

The one thing I would advise against doing is cutting the spike just below the first node, as some people will advise you do. This can force more blooming, but has the disadvantate of weakening the plant as it forces bloomng when the plant is not really strong enough/ready to bloom.

Most phals are now entering their vegetative growth stage, except the summer flowering group. It is more important that they grow leaves to be able to grow new spikes in the fall. I almost always cut my old spikes, green or not, back to the base. The only time I don't do this is when I want to apply keiki paste to a node. Why the flowers dropped is anyone's guess.... cold breeze, change in temperature... blast of sunlight????? It really doesn't matter at this point; you enjoyed the flowers and now it's on to growing a strong plant that will flower in the fall. Yes the old spikes will re-flower in in the fall but you'll get more flowers and large size if you cut the old spikes.... IMHO.

If the plant is green but the spike is yellowing, is that an indicator that the stem should be cut or is something wrong with it?

I'm with Howard on this one. I always cut the spikes when it's done blooming green or not. Ultimately you want a strong healthy plant. Old spikes suck a lot of energy from the plant that could be better spent growing new leaves and new roots. Giving it a chance to recover and store energy will give you much better blooms the next cycle. I've even had plants throw mulitple spikes the next season. That said there are those plants out there that just seem to have to be in bloom all the time. You can cut off their spikes and 3 weeks later it's growing a new one.

David if the spike is yellowing it's on it's way out. May as well cut it now and get it over with. ;)