what color is my spike surposed to be

[lisadoyle]

Hi my name is Lisa, I just got my phalaenopsis orchid in May. I wonder what color the spike is surposed to be? It's not brown anymore. Its just finished blooming and the blooms fell off. And I am going to repot it in a 8 inch pot its in a 6 inch pot. What color are the roots surposed to be? How can I tell from good roots to bad roots? Is it okay to just put the Orchid mix in the pot? Thanks in advance. Lisa

[mayres]

Hi and welcome Lisa -
You will probably hear from one of the experts following my two cents worth, but here goes! :-)
A number of questions that could be discussed for some time - I'll give you a few comments and if you don't get the answers you want from myself or others to follow ask again.
Nearly all of the phal spikes that I have seen are green. Normally when they turn brown they have died and can be cut off at the point where they come out of the plant. There are different ideas on what to do with the spike after blooming. One common technique is to cut the spike just above the last node. If it is "happy" and if other environmental factors are favorable it may send out a secondary spike soon after flowering and you will get to enjoy additional flowers. Sometimes if you do not cut the stem it will even put out 2-3 additional flowers on the end of the full spent spike. My mother has a phal that was in full bloom on Valentines day and just finished its main bloom cycle a few weeks ago and immediately sent out additional blooms on the end of the previous spike - so it is still going! Some people prefer to cut the spike immediately after the initial bloom so that the plant can put its energy into building up its energy for next year's bloom cycle. Again, different types of phals and different environments have varying success rates with all of the above - you will need to find out what works best for your situation. You want to be careful not to overpot a phal. The main issue here is that the media has a hard time drying out properly if the pot is too large for the plant. Normally only large specimen plants are going to be in pots larger than six inch pots. Many phals can stay in 4-6 inch pots indefinately, depending upon how good of a grower you are. The normal sequence of events for many home growers is that the bottom two leaves yellow and fall off each year and a couple of new ones take their place and the overall plant changes little in overall size - just my experience and with others I know. Healthy roots are normally milky colored - white, tan, or even light green if exposed to light. The tips are usually a darker green. When you repot look for any roots that are mushy (rotten), dark brown, black, shriveled up, etc. and remove those. The good ones will be plump and firm. Don't worry about any roots that are heading off into the atmosphere that you cannot get into a pot. In the wild many of these grow on trees and it is their natural inclination to be reaching out for something to grab onto. As long as there is sufficient humidity they will continue to grow out of the media and are often as interesting to watch grow as the rest of the plant! A typical way to pot them is to put a small amount of styrofoam packing peanuts in the bottom of the pot for added drainage, add some of your media, place the plant in the pot and fill/firm up the plant in the pot with media. There are so many media's used by growers of phals and it will be up to you to see what works best for you. Orchid mix (often primarily bark) is usually good for those that may be prone to over-watering (one of the primary ways of killing a phal). Many of the commercial growers use New Zealand sphagnum moss, a peat mix or a mix made up with primarily coconut husk ground up. There are many combinations of all of these and other media as well such as perlite, charcoal, rocks, etc. Of course the pots and mixes are our way of being able to secure the plant to a vessel that makes it convenient for us - as again, the plant would just as soon be attached to a tree in your back yard (assuming you are in a climate that could support their year round growth outside). Good luck and I'll let someone else take it from here! :-) mike

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Good job Mike. I guess I would like to add that you should be prepared to actually squeeze the roots between your fingers to see if they are firm and therefore alive. The color of roots can be deceiving. The exception would be if they are very black and are firm because they are petrified (and dead). I agree with Mike, an 8" pot is most likely to be way too big. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[lisadoyle]

hi this is Lisa again my spike looks dead all down to the plant. Does my phal have to have a spike in order grow another spike and blooms?

[mayres]

If your spike is brown (dead) - cut it off as close to the plant as you can and enjoy the leaves and roots of the plant until another spike emerges near the base of the plant. Typically this only happens once per year. Some plants that are very "happy" may put out two or more spikes though one is most common for many phals. The entire process can be agonizingly slow to some - once the spike starts it can take three months or so until the blooms come out and then the good part is that the blooms often last three months or more. So, about half the year you might have no spike/blooms and the other half a combination of anticipation and blooms. :-) mike

[lisadoyle]

Hi this is Lisa just wanted to say thanks for all the good info.