I snapped one not so long ago trying to stabilise the spike, definitely annoying! I also tore out the crown on another stuffing around with a leaf I didn't like...... ;) whoopsie-booboo :) ...... luckily for me it seems to be recovering, whew!

Oh man that's a bummer, sorry to hear that. So frustrating to boot! :(

I got two new Zygonesias recently one in bud, the other had a brand new unexpected spike when it arrived. One of three buds blasted, and the other ones spike died completely.

But like someone else said, at least you know you're doing something right! And who knows it might want to grow a few new branches off what's left over.

I used to wonder how it was that people managed to do that. I mean, isn't a person just careful around a spiking plant? Until I did it the first time . . . Then I understood how easy it is to break those things! :)

You guys make me feel better. I knew you would. I love this site!

That suuuucks. I haven't really had that happen since I cut the spikes on plants I just buy if I think it needs to be given some real TLC. Which, more often than not, they do. But still, that's a major bummer :(

I have not felt that pain before, for one simple reason. Large big plants all get good light bit they seldome flower. They grow like weeds. Each plants only flower like every 4 years
Sorry for your loss I can emagine how it would feel

That sucks, especially if it's a flowering you've been anticipating for a while.

I've only broken on spike/stem so far, and that was on my Paph tonsum, but that flower was already in a glass of water, so it didn't matter.

On the other hand, I've killed several orchids and I think I would prefer snapping an inflorescence once in a while, instead of killing the plants. Dead orchids are very unwilling bloomers, after all. ;)

That's how I killed my Paph mastersianum. I was going to remove one of the old leaves, which was pretty firmly attached to the plant, but I pulled anyway and the entire stem snapped in half... :_(

No more pulling dead, very firmly attached leaves off Paphs anymore.

This is why I started staking spikes on my phals. On other plants, I don't bother because the spikes get really tall so I am not at risk of forgetting they are there. I do feel your pain on this one! Staking can also risk breakage of a spike too, so you have to be careful no matter what you do.

Oh, just to illustrate what I do with my plants, I managed to drop my Paph robinsonii upside down today, naturally after writing my previous post and of course it's in spike as well. The spike held, while one leaf got damaged and the entire plant almost came out of the pot. I managed to put everything back together, so I hope it's going to be alright.

THIS is what I do instead. I have a very bad tendency to drop my Paphs and it has caused one to die, some roots to snap off on others, and leaf damage all around. The spikes? Nah, no problemo, mate. :roll:

So apparently, the spikes in my apartment have all been treated with 'unbreakianium', while the rest of the plants suffer from the 'fumblefingerssyndrome'.

..Or you could have been like me and move a phal around in different angles so the buds and flowers all crane around to the light... I've managed to topple over the top heavy phal, nothing broke.. I just have a couple twisted flowers/buds. Luckily only one bud blasted.:shock:

beginner mistake :blushing: