| You have a lot of options! It is really up to you to decide what you want your plant to look like and to some degree do - some of it is merely aesthetics - what you want your plant to "look" like. Some people choose to leave their old spikes on the plant until they turn brown. Trim back to just above the last node and wait and see what happens. Either a secondary spike will shoot out with additional flowers, a keiki may form (cutting just above lower nodes may be better for encouraging a keiki), or the spike will turn brown. A combination of genetics and how "happy" your phal is will determine what happens. Many people choose to cut the old spikes off at the base as soon as they are done flowering to encourage the plant to build up its energy for a larger spike during the next round and put its energy into leaves and roots. On the other hand I have seen very mature phals with 6-7 spikes growing at once and 3-4 old ones besides and they seem to be going/growing like nobody's business. |