Is my orchid finally spiking? Pics at bottom.

[Dalton21]

Hey guys, I've had my orchid for about 4 years now, but still don't know alot about taking care of it. It's a Miltassia Shelob "The Weed" according to the tag on it. It also has a date on the tag near the end of '06, so the plant might be 5 years old, I'm not sure.

Anyway, I'd never had an orchid before and thought I'd start with one that I wouldn't have alot invested in. I got it from walmart. It was in a perforated bag, hanging on a wall. The pot was wrapped in airtight plastic, presumably to keep moisture in, because there was no way to water it. I brought it home and repotted it, trimming off the brown soggy roots with scissors I'd disinfected.

It took about 6 months for it to start showing signs of growth. Since then, I've been taking care of it, though not always giving it the attention it deserves. I've had to move it around when I've moved to a new house and I've ended up putting it in too bright a light and burning it, or not enough light. I've also not been as dedicated as I should to watering it, but I haven't been too bad in that regard. I would forget to fertilize it more than I'd forget to water it.

The point is that my plant has had it rough, but now I'm taking better care of it. It's currently in a bathroom near a window. It gets moderate light throughout the day. That's the only place I have for it at all right now. I mist it once or twice a day. It also gets the humidity from the bathtub/shower whenever anyone uses it. I let it soak in fertilized water for 30min once a week and every 4th-5th week I just use plain water. It's planted in a chunky orchid bark. I use orchid pluse fertilizer from better-gro.

I have been taking care of it, but not really looking at it and a few days ago, I noticed that there appeared to be a spike coming out of the plant. It was fairly long and I just hadn't noticed it among the leaves. If it is a spike it's the first one it's ever had. I want to know if 1) if it's a spike, 2) should I buy a bloom booster to start giving it, 3) what you can tell me about the care of this plant, 4) if when I next repot it, should I put spagum moss on top of the bark to help hold in moisture, 5) on this plant should I trim back the spike once the potential blooms drop or does it rebloom, 6) and finally for right now, I need to repot it in a bigger pot designed for orchids and this one is a little out of hand. Because of my ignorence and neglect, this orchid is pretty unattractive and the way it's grown is a litle weird. I would like to cut off all but a couple of the bulbs, getting rid of the ones with burnt leaves or just bulbs with no leaves, that kind of thing. I would like to know if this is safe for the plant and how to go about it. Basically, this thing grows from left to right and not out from a center so each new bulb grows up and out from the previous one and there is a short piece of "root" with many little roots coming off of it. I figure I can cut as close to the last bad bulb as I can and just have the good bulbs and all the little roots. Let me know what you think and sorry for rambling. I'm including the pictures I took below. Let me know if you need better pics. Thanks.

Orchid pictures by M_Hatter - Photobucket

[BGGraham1]

Hi Dalton21, and welcome to the 'geeks! First, that looks like a spike to me ! Good job!
Second, I wouldn't cut the plant apart. The old bulbs still provide nutrients to the plant, unless they are rotted, brown and mushy. I have an old thread around here - sorry I forgot to grab the link - I'll find it and post it. I have an Encyclia that was growing out of the pot. I got a pot that would accomodate the roots and was wide enough at the top for the new growth. I think that would be a better plan.

Here is the link Repot of an Encyclia prismatocarpa

[bearded orchid]

Yep, that's definitely a spike. Congrats!

I personally agree with Brigitte. You shouldn't cut the older bulbs off unless they have become extremely shrivelled and begun to die off. Orchids that utilize pseudobulbs use them as a place to store water and nutrients. Your orchid is blooming now partly because it has grown enough new growths so reach a mature blooming size; cutting it back like you mentioned could very well set it back a bit. However, if you do have your heart set on dividing the plant, make sure the main division has at least four pseudobulbs.

I would look for a pot large enough to accommodate the root ball and the pseudobulbs and then while repotting make sure to place the oldest growth next to the edge of the pot, thus allowing ample room for new leads to grow for another season or two.

Also, I am pretty sure this variety does not rebloom from previous spikes, so you should clip the spike once it's finished blooming.

[Dalton21]

All of my bulbs except the one that is spiking are slightly wrinkly. Like pruny hands out of the bath tub. I dont know if that's what you guys mean by shrivled or not. They are still pretty green.

Do you guys have any more advice about this plant. I'm not even completely sure what kind it is. I think it's a brassiaXmilt(whatever) cross. I don't know much about it.

Also, should I keep the routine as it is now, with soaking it once a week in fertilzer water and misting twice a day, since that's what got it spiking in the first place? Or do I need to change it up to help it bloom and water/fertilize more frequently? Thanks for the help guys.

PS - forgot to say that the reasons I was wanting to trim it down/repot were partly asthetic, since most of the leaves are damaged in some way; and partly because of the way it's grown. There is almost a 90 degree turn between the oldest bulb and the newst one. I'm currnetly trying to fix that with a rod and clip, but don't know if it'll do anything. It's growth has also been up and out, so even if I get a bigger pot, I'd have to bury most of the oldest bulb to get all the roots of the newest under the bark. Lastly, would you guys recommend putting spaghum moss on top of the bark to help hold in some moisture? I've never used it on this particular plant. I tend to soak it for about 30 minutes on saturdays and by the next saturday, the bark has just dried out. If you do suggest adding spaghum, would you do it now or wait till it's finished spiking and blooming. I'll be repotting it then. I don't want to stress it now. Thanks alot.

[Kelly]

When I first bought my dancing lady orchid some of the roots started growing out of the holes in the side of the pot. When I took it to then nursery on campus, one of the ladies said that it's common for orchids to do this because they like to 'breathe'. Mine needed to be staked and have some rocks to keep it stable, but the roots were fine out of the medium (there are plenty more underneath or it wouldn't have grown more pseudobulbs). Get some rocks (decorative or out of the back yard) to help keep it stable. Use another stake near the base if you need to.