(with photos!) Main stem dying downwards

[guinea]

Hello everyone!

I've had my orchid plant for 9 months now. We were away for 3 months, during which I asked my friend to look after her for me. But when we came back and got the plant back, the main stem top half has died, and has been cut off. It looks like this now, but the main stem is drying towards the base from the dead remains. I don't really want to cut from the bottom and hence killing all those flowers, what should I do?

PS the plant would form a 90 degrees bend if we did not clip it this way.

[NancyH]

Hi Guinea...welcome to the forum. Your plant looks great! It looks as if someone cut off a previous set of blooms above a node that forced a new spike. That is why the angle. Seeing as how you have had the plant for so long now and it looks healthy you are providing what it needs to thrive and bloom. When this bloom cycle is over with I would cut off the whole spike at the leaves so the plant can have a break and produce more roots for even better blooms next cycle. At that time you can also check the roots and if needed trim and change medium. Good growing! Nancy

[Daethen]

Just leave it as is and keep doing what you are doing for now. It looks healthy.

[syndywindy]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I agree it looks as if whoever was caring for it cut the spike down and a new subspike formed. The thing to know about this is; it takes a lot of energy from the mother plant to produce the new spike like that. If the overall health of the plant is good then it's ok. If on the otherhand, the plant looks like it is having issues such as rotted roots, I'd cut that spike all the way down so the energy goes back into the plant. Its a personal choice, I prefer cutting my spikes down after the initial blooming. Others like to see more blooms and will cut the spike just above a node to get that subspike. You will get a lot of debate over this, so thats why I say it's a personal choice.

[guinea]

Thank you so much for all the response! It would really help if someone could circle where you would cut in the photo

[syndywindy]

If you are going to cut it now before the blooms fade, I cut mine as close to the plant as I can get without accidently cutting or harming the plant itself.