cutting stem

[nephthyswa]

I'm a newbie and I have a phalaenopsis, it's flowering beautifully at the moment but when it's finished I read you should cut the main stem off just above the second eye so a new stem would grow. However, this guy just told me I shouldn't! What do I do??? Also, he told me to use fertiliser every 2 weeks, a phosphate based one when flowering and a nitrogen based one when not... I only thought you were supposed to feed it every 4 weeks. I'm sooo confused now please help!!!

[janet_a]

you could cut high, and it might branch, but this puts a strain on the plant. depends on the overall health of the rest of the plant. personally i don't cut anything til it shrivels up and dies; sometimes it branches on its own.

as for fert--some folks change the fertilizer depending on if the plant is blooming or not; i can't be bothered. i fertilize mine every other watering, which ends up being every other week. i make my concentration half of what the instructions say for bi weekly watering. (remember--the fertilizer manufacturers are in the business of selling more fertilizer, so they want you to use it up fast.)

monthly fertilizer is more for cactii and succulents, i thought....

now as for what kind of fertilzer to use, that's a whole nother thread.

[mayres]

The general rule seems to be to cut the stem as you have indicated, however other options are obviously open. Some cut the stem off if they want the energy of the plant to begin to rejuvinate the plant for next year's flowers. Others may leave the stem and let the plant decide on it's own where the side shoot will come out for a second blooming. Additional bloomings may or may not occur depending upon the particular cross you have and how happy it is. There are lots of options on fertilizing as well - common practices are every other week during the growing season or water 1/4 to 1/2 strength every time (approximately weekly) - thus the statement weakly weekly. There are many great places on the internet to glean great information - you might start with the culture information at AOS.org. The have the phalaenopsis culture sheets for both beginner and intermediate growers. Good luck!

[jerrymeola]

Fertilizing
Orchids do not like fertilizers that are too strong as they tend to burn the tips of the leaves.

The catch phrase is to fertilize 'weakly weekly' but lets understand what is meant by weakly. If you buy an all purpose fertilizer the recommended dilution level is a tablespoon per gallon. If you buy the same companies 'orchid food', it is the same product in the same size bags and normally the same price. The only difference is the instructions. For orchids, the bag will read dilution of a TEASPOON per gallon. So with all purpose food you dilute but with orchid food it is already a weak dilution in the instructions. You do not need to dilute again.

I have some customers who like to fertilize with every watering. In the heat here in SW Florida, that may be 3 times a week, so they make their dilutions at 1/3 teaspoon per gallon and fertilize every time they water. The plant gets the same amount and they do not have to rememenber when to fertilize. Fertilizer is inorganic so it does not go bad and can be used for months.

I like a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10, 20-20-20 etc). The high nitrogen fertilizers should only be used on old bark mixtures. The extra nitrogen is used by the decomposition process. If the plant is in sphag, hydroponic rock or bare root the high nitrogen fertilizers should not be used. The 'bloom boost' high phospate fertilizers do not seem to do any good in my opinion. If you are using the high nitrogen and the bloom boost alternating every 3rd or 4th fertilizing as recommended it comes out to almost balanced so why not just start there.

Cuting the stem from a phal is a personal choice. Commercially the flowers that sometimes branch are fewer and smaller, certainly not normally pretty enough to sell the plant. Therefor, commercial growers cut the stem putting the plants strength back into growing and preparing for the next flowering season.

As a hobbist it is whatever gives you pleasure. The stem may give you a few new flowers or may produce a keiki (hawaiian word for baby). When the roots of a keiki are about 3 inches it can be cut off and planted separate. If that would be fun for you do it. Commercially it is cheaper and much faster to buy small seedlings.

If the stem gets woody then it is dead and cut it off.

One notable exceptions is Newberry Parfeit. This hybrid branches and produces more buds while the original flowers are still in full bloom. I have one control plant that has had buds or 5-6 full size flowers on the same stem continuously since March of 2005 and it is producing a new branch today. The species is known to go 2 years in bloom.

[adamski46]

So (and I'm new here too), if I understand correctly, the spike should die off on its own after it is done flowering? I assume a new one grows at some point? I'm a little confused...

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Winter is the natural time for Phals to bloom. The shorter days and cooler nights are the trigger conditions for blooming. You can buy Phals in bloom any month of the year because these conditions are controlled by the grower to get blooming plants to sell continuously thru the year. There is no guarentee that cutting the spike or leaving it alone will result in a second wave of bloom from the original spike. Sometimes the spike just dries up. Depends on the inner workings of any one plant. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[jerrymeola]

When the plant does not have a use for the flower stem it will shrivel and die off.

A new stem forms in winter (actually when the plant can get a 20 degree temperature drop from night to day) from between the leaves. This is why commercial growers remove the old stem early to save strength on the plant.

The old stem can form a branch that usually is only one or two smaller flowers or a baby plant (keiki). Keikis are very slow growing and not used commercially but fun to watch grow if that interests you.

In general 3 out of 4 stems will do nothing but die after the flowers are gone.

Nothing you do is wrong.