Old Bloom Spikes

[vjo]

Can any one tell me if there is a hard and fast rule as to which bloom spikes you should cut off and which to leave alone?I know that Phal you leave on, but what about brassia,epis,onc.and many others.I have a lot of books but most of them give no mention of this.HELP!! Thank You.... Jean

[Gage]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "old" bloom spikes. If the spike is dead, you can certainly cut it off. Some Phals do continue to bloom on a spike of which its blooms have wilted, but many do not. If you want to stimulate a Phal to bloom AGAIN from the same spike (different from CONTINUING to bloom on the same spike), you can cut it off an inch or two above the second or third node. If it works it will send out a new lead from that node. I don't recommend this method if you are planning on growing the plant indefinitely, because it does take energy that would otherwise go towards leaf and root growth, and next year's blooming. I know that some species of other genre may CONTINUE to bloom on an otherwise finished looking spike. I think the newbie rule here would be, if it's still green you never know what it might do, if it starts to dry up it's done. Hope this helps.

[WhiteRabbit]

Tolumnia can rebloom on 'old' spikes

I usually only cut spikes when they are good and dead - usually, if a plant cannot (or isn't going to) bloom again on the same spike, they dry up and die pretty quickly after blooms are done (tho not always)

[Gage]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Tolumnia can rebloom on 'old' spikes

I didn't know that! Do they do it consistently? Is there a pattern to it?

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Gage

I didn't know that! Do they do it consistently? Is there a pattern to it?

Well, I've only just recently gotten mine to bloom at all! lol
But, a couple had bare spikes when I got them - the smallest plant gave me one more bloom a bit down the road, the other, nada.

Of the three of mine that finally bloomed this year - the very small one, which only had a small spike (4 blooms) - looks like the spike is dying. The one that had the one HUGE spike (over 20 blooms, with 2 small branches on the spike) has just started to bloom again - the branches have themselves branched, also getting buds forming on the ends of branches - and looks like a new branch developing from a node just below the lowest previous branch.

The other, which had two spikes, about 4-6 weeks apart - the first spike, which finished blooming some time ago, looks to be dying - the second spike, which blooms are just now fading, has a little branch developing on the first node below the blooms.

I don't know what the difference is - why some spikes have withered, and others continue...
But don't cut those spikes til they are dead! - or if the tip withers, but the rest is still ok, just cut off the withered part.

[Gage]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Well, I've only just recently gotten mine to bloom at all! lol
But, a couple had bare spikes when I got them - the smallest plant gave me one more bloom a bit down the road, the other, nada.

Of the three of mine that finally bloomed this year - the very small one, which only had a small spike (4 blooms) - looks like the spike is dying. The one that had the one HUGE spike (over 20 blooms, with 2 small branches on the spike) has just started to bloom again - the branches have themselves branched, also getting buds forming on the ends of branches - and looks like a new branch developing from a node just below the lowest previous branch.

The other, which had two spikes, about 4-6 weeks apart - the first spike, which finished blooming some time ago, looks to be dying - the second spike, which blooms are just now fading, has a little branch developing on the first node below the blooms.

I don't know what the difference is - why some spikes have withered, and others continue...
But don't cut those spikes til they are dead! - or if the tip withers, but the rest is still ok, just cut off the withered part.

Thanks for the info! I love the "surprise" factor. It seems one or two of my orchids are at any given time doing something off the beaten path. Tolumnia is on my list now.

[CTB]

My catts continue to bloom right out of the old (last years) shaft. I never cut them, in nature they fall off when they are ready and same here. Encyclia's continue to bloom on the same spike for 4 months or so. Sometimes after blooming a orchid will grow a keiki so don't be too fast to cut.