Cut spike on non-stop blooming Phal?

[The Mutant]

My crazy Phal, Dtps. Queen Beer 'Tiny Doll' is working on yet another spike.

This guy has been blooming/spiking since I purchased it in Mars and I'm starting to worry that it's going to bloom itself to death.

It's growing well overall and has gotten 3-4 leaves and plenty of roots since I got it home, but can it really take blooming so much without any real rest in between?

Should I let the newest spike mature or should I cut it?

Here's a pic on the bugger:

[magicatt]

I would let it spike. Happy orchids spike. Enjoy it. Besides if it dies you just buy two more. Easy.

[cbuchman]

Wow! I'd say that if you got new growth that is healthy, you're OK. (I'm not an expert on Phals! that's juts my gut feeling....)

[blfresh]

Beautiful blooms! You must be doing something right!

[Bud]

You are one lucky Chap !
I would like to have an ever blooming Phal....
if the leaves and the roots are still growing like crazy....and its giving you spikes and more blooms...why be worried?
You have a happy healthy plant that loves to give you flowers....

[jai_star]

Don't cut it off and let it bloom if it has produced new growth then that means it has a lot of stored up energy to support the flower growth. I would suggest cutting it right down after this flush of flowering though. In the meantime keep up with the feeding and allow plenty of bright light and enjoy the blooms

[dendro king]

thats the opposite of my dtps. Queen Beer! mine wont bloom or grow new roots!

[PaphMadMan]

Grrrr.. pet peeve. Only orchid growers could possibly get worriied because their orchids are too healthy. Healthy mature orchid plants can't 'bloom themselves to death'. It just does not happen. If they are not strong enough to contimue blooming they will stop. Sometimes a too young or weak plant will attempt to bloom, and that might noy be a good idea, but it clearly does not apply to your plant.

What sometimes happens is that people stop caring for a plant in continuous bloom. They take it from the well lit window and put it in a dark corner because it looks good there. They think they can't repot it in bloom so they let the roots rot in old media gone bad. They get complacent and stop watching for problems. Then the plant goes downhill and they claim it bloomed itself to death because they can't admit they screwed up. Just keep giving it the excellent care you have clearly been giving it and enjoy.

[The Mutant]

Thanks for all of your input. I've let it keep its new spike and it's growing very happily at the moment.

This is the third Phal I have that's doing this at the moment. The other two are a NoID (it's named Snow Mound, but it's not registered) which I purchased in February this year, in bloom, and which is STILL blooming, but on its newest spike. It had three when I purchased it and those three spikes all got more buds after staying with me for a while (it had 30 flowers opened at most), then a fourth spike emerged and it's this one that has started to bloom now (the remaining one of the old spikes still has four flowers on it, so I won't cut it yet).

Here's my NoID as its peak with its original three spikes:



The other Phal is a Dtps. Tzu Chiang Orange C#1 that I ordered from England and which was shipped to me in bloom (on six! spikes) in March. This original six spikes are still blooming and there are two new ones emerging.

And here it was when I had just repotted it after receiving it (I had to cut some parts of some of the leaves off, since it had developed some sort of bacterial rot; soft, brown, and very rapid spreading spots, in case you're wondering about its leaves):


All three of these Phals have gotten new leaves and roots and all look very happy with life, so it seems the summer has been absolutely perfect for them, and that they've gotten enough fertilizer to bloom as much as they have.

Originally Posted by magicatt

I would let it spike. Happy orchids spike. Enjoy it. Besides if it dies you just buy two more. Easy.

Nope. This is not an option, because I've no idea if I could ever get a 'Tiny Doll' again here in Sweden.

Originally Posted by jai_star

Don't cut it off and let it bloom if it has produced new growth then that means it has a lot of stored up energy to support the flower growth. I would suggest cutting it right down after this flush of flowering though. In the meantime keep up with the feeding and allow plenty of bright light and enjoy the blooms

Thanks, then I don't need to worry about my crazy little thing.

Originally Posted by PaphMadMan

Grrrr.. pet peeve. Only orchid growers could possibly get worriied because their orchids are too healthy. Healthy mature orchid plants can't 'bloom themselves to death'. It just does not happen. If they are not strong enough to contimue blooming they will stop. Sometimes a too young or weak plant will attempt to bloom, and that might noy be a good idea, but it clearly does not apply to your plant.

What sometimes happens is that people stop caring for a plant in continuous bloom. They take it from the well lit window and put it in a dark corner because it looks good there. They think they can't repot it in bloom so they let the roots rot in old media gone bad. They get complacent and stop watching for problems. Then the plant goes downhill and they claim it bloomed itself to death because they can't admit they screwed up. Just keep giving it the excellent care you have clearly been giving it and enjoy.

Aha, so that's why it happens? I didn't know and was scared I might kill it if I let it keep blooming as it has. I would never dream of stop caring for it as I have, since it has been doing so well.

The spike stays.

[jai_star]

I agree with PhapMadMan as long as you take care of the Phal it will have a constant supply of energy also I would like to point out that the Phals will give you signs as to when they have had enough of blooms. I have a Phal that has 2 spikes which I cut back then it threw up another new spike from the base so now there are 3 spikes. On the new spike there is no more mitten shape growth usually on a spike there is a mitten shape on the tip which continues to produce more blooms. This Phal is telling me it will not produce any more flowers after these ones ( refer to pic ) so after these blooms are done blooming i will cut all spikes down.