| you can always cut a flower stem after blooms have faded. You can also leave them as it will not harm the plant. Most hobbist cut them because it looks better. Most commercial growers leave them as it is not worth the cost of paying someone to cut them off.
The only orchid that can flower again out of the old stem is a Phalaenopsis. These can branch or produce a baby plant off the old stem. The flowers are usually not as numerous or as large as the originals and baby plants take a long time to grow, so many hobbist cut the stem to preserve strength in the plant for growing and probably an equal number leave them for the extra flowers and keikis (baby plants).
About 1 in 8 stems produce extra flowres or keikis and if the stem gets soft and mushy or hard and dry it is finished.
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jerry  |