Brown discolouration after pruning
 

Hi there.

I have a phalaenopsis orchid. After all the blooms fell off I cut it under the first node and nothing has happened for a few months. I even got a new leaf so I thought the plant was doing well.

A few days ago the stem has started to become a lighter yellow then brown from the top where I cut and it seems to be going down. What is it? What do I do?

That simply means that the stem is not going to branch and is dying back. Perfectly normal. Some phalaenopsis don't seem to branch much off the old stems. You can leave it to slowly brown or cut it off.

I always cut the bloom stalks down to about 3 inches and leave them...there are bunches of them sticking out from the leaf axis, lol....eventually, they will snap off at the base, but I prefer to let nature take its course with them, rather than risk stem injury by trying to remove them too close....good luck on your next blooming!

Yep, normal thing.

Some phals terminate their spike by browning from the very tip as soon as the flowers all drop while some remain green spikes for months, which may or may not rebloom.

When the spent spikes stay green for a while, I usually trim the spent spike on the node where the first flower was attached just so I don't run into the annoying tips pointing everywhere. lol

Then some plants rebloom and some don't.
Only time will tell.

I have one phal hybrid that is spiking off the spent spike for the second time. can you believe it? :)
It is also making a brand new spike in two years! yay!!!