Help please- trimming multiple spikes.

[FloridaOrchid]

Hi! I have a beautiful Phal with a ton of blooms! I bought it about 1 1/2 months ago with many buds but only two blooms. It is in a mulch pot that i water every 2 or so weeks when it feels dry to the touch. It sits by a window facing my porch- it's shaded but its strong Florida sun.. It seems to be doing well in this environment, I did suffer some bud blast (I think due to changing its environment when I bought it) and a few of the spikes have "died off" because of the bud blast - I attached a couple of pictures so you know What I mean. One spike is even turning brown... but i still have a few buds on other parts of the plant. Should I trim this or wait until all the blooms die? And most importantly HOW do I trim this? How far down, with scissors, etc- I'm a beginner and need all the help and step by step instructions I can get! Thank you!!

[FloridaOrchid]

Another pic

[FloridaOrchid]

Pic

[Abbie9]

If the spike is turning brown go ahead and cut it at least down to beyond where there is any brown; if it keeps browning further then I'd cut the whole thing down to the bottom node. It shouldn't have any negative effect on the spikes that still have blooms. The fact the spike is turning brown means the plant doesn't have the energy to sustain that much growth right now anyway so by cutting the spike you're helping it to focus on the spikes with blooms (which is what it's trying to do). You can use scissors or gardening sheers. Make sure they are clean though, or they could spread disease (this is mostly applicable when using one tool to cut multiple plants). I usually just use whatever scissors I have nearby and my plants have never had a problem.

Also wow, what a great looking plant!

[tucker85]

I agree, that's a nice looking orchid. You can cut the dead, brown part of the spike anytime you want. With the green flower spikes, it's entirely up to you. If you leave green spikes on the plant there's always a chance that they can rebloom. There's no guarantee of course. If you don't like the way they look, you can cut them off and it won't hurt anything. When I do cut spikes, I use to sterilized shears to cut them about an inch from where they attach to the plant.

[FloridaOrchid]

Thanks for the fast replies and advice!! I cut the browning spike but I have left everything else (like the ones which lost buds and are now bare).... I guess I'll try to hold out for new blooms on these! You mentioned it was turning brown because of a lack of energy- could this be because of too little watering or too little sun? Or is this somewhat normal on a healthy plant too? I also have not been feeding with orchid food yet when i water, because i heard i should wait until it is not blooming? i do have miracle grow for orchids on hand though. Sorry for all the questions- this plant has given me a lot of joy and i want to do all i can to keep it healthy an try my hand at helping it rebloom when the time comes Thanks again!