I'm a newbie to the Orchid Board
 

Hi everyone,

This is my first message to this site and since we're all afficionados of orchids, we have something in common. I live on the East Coast in Southern New York state and JUST RETIRED! A bit strange, but I'll slip right into the role in no time.
It's nice to be here!

Ginny:waving

Welcome, ginnyr
 

Nice to have you here. I think you will enjoy it here. There are many nice folks here.:)

Welcome! This is a great place. I'm originally from your neck of the woods in very northern NJ.

Welcome Ginny!!!!!!
Have fun browsing around and feel free to post pics!
What orchids do you grow? What are your favorites?
kiki

Welcome Ginny, you'll be fittin in before you know it.

Thanks for the welcome!
 

OK, here goes. Started out w Phals and added Cats. Not happy with the cats as they simply will not bloom. The phals bloom regularly and LOVE to be outdoors in the summer. They generally spike w/in a month after being brought back in. right now I have 3 of the in spike, and one of those has "spikelets" on the mother spike. In that regard I have a question. should I be clipping the babies off ? I have left them on in the past and they produce 3-4 flowers but I wondered if I cut them off if the mother spike would be more vigorous?

Probably not. Some do this naturally and many do not. Some send out side spikes after the main spike is done and some do not. Some of us cut off the spike after the last flower falls and some do not. :biggrin:

"spike on spike"
 

that's interesting Ross. I've had it happen before and just figured it was luck. But it continued so now I'm assuming they're just plain healthy and happy.

:cheer: WELCOME GINNY! :cheer:
Glad you can join us here at the OB:)
I am in southern NY also .. Long Island to be specific .. nice to have a neighbor join us :waving

Dorothy in LI
 

Hi Dorothy,

Yes, it's great to know someone is there who is fairly close by. I know LI pretty well. I spent quite a bit of time in Rosyln Harbor as few years back.
I'm in Tuxedo (Southfields to be exact...but nobody has ever heard of it. It's actually a hamlet of Tuxedo).