New Growth

[marmin]

Can anyone tell me how long after you cut down all stems will New Growth appear?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

On what orchid and where on the "stem"? What "stem" are you referring to?

Pics help tremendously if you don't know the technical terms yet.

[marmin]

My plant is Plalaenopis. I have cut the Spikes back. The leaves are full and green, but I would like to know how long it takes for new growth to appear. I'm sorry, but no pictures.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

New growth as in leaves, spikes, roots, basal keikis?

Or are you talking about any kind of growth at all?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The answer is it depends on the individual. No 2 individuals grow at the same rate. No 2 species or hybrids grow at the same rate. What plant part is growing also depends on the plant, we have no real control over that without the use of hormones.

Note: Playing around with hormones to control growth on a plant can have dire long term consequences on the plant if they are used over the long haul. Be careful in how you use hormones and what you use, as well as in the quantity of hormones used. I generally don't recommend playing around with phytohormones for fear of causing possible severe and irreversible damage to the plant.

For Phals in general, they tend to be slowish growers compared to some of the faster growing genera of orchids, such as many Pleurothallids.

Certain Phals will start producing noticeable growths relatively sooner than others.

It's really difficult to guess and give an accurate answer.

[NatalieS]

King is right - every plant is different. Some phals have a definite period where they will not be actively growing, while others can be perpetual bloomers and will throw up new spikes as soon as the old one is finished, and then there are some that will start new leaves and roots soon after flowering. You could call this the plant's 'growth habit'. If you haven't been growing the phal long, then you won't know what its growth habit is, but you will learn it in time.

The plant's growth habit is influenced by its parentage (or genes), but also its environment and how you grow it. Nature vs. nurture basically. If we force things, as King says, it can be detrimental to the plant.

If your plant seems in good health then just keep looking after it the way you have been - and be patient.

[Bud]

You got good advice from Philip and Natalie.
When you cut the spike you give a message to the plant that it needs to grow leaves and roots to gather enough energy to give you a new spike of blooms....species bloom once a year ; twice if you're lucky....hybrids can bloom as many as 4 times a year depending on your following the correct culture for Phals