I have a phal orchid that I purchased about two months ago. I looked up images and confirmed that it is indeed a phalaenopsis. My question is the flowers are starting to die off but I noticed I am getting a new "branch" lower on the stem; after the flowers are gone do I cut back to the new node? And I also noticed a new stem is coming out from the leaves so I am pretty sure it is not a root. Is this normal to have a new stem? How can I tell if it is a stem or just a root? Thank you in advance!
Sounds like you're looking after this plant and it's responding. Just keep doing what you have been doing and all will be well. You can certainly cut the old stem back to just above the bud with the new "branch" but it's not necessary. You could wait until the old stem dries up and cut at the dry part.
Cowboy thank you so much for your response. Please don't give me too much credit; I have killed several orchids before I figured out the secret!!!!! I am so happy that this one is responding and I am thinking of trying another one to add to my collection. I live in Florida and I see a lot of orchids out on people's pool area. Thank you again!
One tip you might want to try. When an orchid bloom stalk loses the last of its flowers, it can often be persuaded to produce a branch and new buds and flowers, if you trim the flower stalk about half way down, about a quarter inch above a node. The nodes are where it looks like a tiny leaf has sort of wrapped part way around the flower stalk. Even secondary branches can be trimmed this way once flowering finishes and can prolong the flowering period by months, depending on the particular orchid. I never allow flower stalks to dry up before I try trimming them this way, and I would say, for me, so far, about 98% respond with at least one new branch that sets buds and flowers again. I had one that flowered, cut back, branched, flowered, cut the branch back, it flowered, and then produced two baby orchids on that last branch. I was away and came home to find one of the baby orchids still on the branch with it's own flower stalk just starting to open buds. All in all, that flower stalk maintained some sort of activity, branching,budding or making babies, for the best part of 8 months. I figure it's always worth a try rather than simply allowing a finished flower stalk to go dry and be cut off at the base. Congrats on the second flower stem showing up... must be a happy orchid where it is. Don't be afraid to trim that new stalk down to a new node when it's flowers are done too.
Thank you so much for the encouragement. I have two flowers left and I will do what you recommend. It is funny the flowers are dying off in the exact order they bloomed. Please feel free to give me any advice. Thank you again. G-
Dear Furballs, I wanted to tell you that I paid $9.99 for this Phal Orchid at IKEA! Go figure. I have killed much more expensive orchids in the past mainly because I did not know what I was doing! But I was at Lowe's to purchase those green support sticks and saw this beautiful Blue Phal Orchid. It was $29.00 but I just had to have it; it was so beautiful. Wish me luck with the blue one!!!!! Thank you again. G-
I hope you enjoy the blue phal and I surely do wish you luck, for as long as the flowers last. But one thing you should know, and I hope I don't ruin things for you.. but those blue phals are dyed that colour. It will not bloom blue again.. it will bloom white next time, most likely. They usually use all white ones to dye. I've seen them in several stores and they are, without a doubt, absolutely gorgeous, but I think it's very sneaky of them, to say the least, that they don't tell you that you are paying all that money for a dyed plant. I suppose you could try watering them with water dyed with food colour, which might, maybe, get you blue or blueish flowers next time a flower stalk grows, but I have no idea how long you'd have to do that, or how much colour you'd need to add to get it to show up in the flowers, because I've no idea how they managed to dye live plants in the first place. It's quite common to see dyed cut flowers, but I've never seen a living plant dyed before until those blue phals showed up on the market. I asked at Sheridan Nursery when I saw their blue phals, because so far as I knew, blue was not a colour that phals come in.. and one of the girls I often talk to there told me that it was a dye job. I was SO disappointed.. but not really surprised. Anyway, best of luck with your orchids.. they are lovely to have no matter what colour they are.
I believe they're injected with dye; I doubt watering with colored water would work. I'm not positive that's always how it is, but the publicity materials are pretty careful not to say anything specific about the process. (This company, which I believe is responsible for the majority of blue Phalaenopsis in the U.S., only says: "The Blue Mystique blue orchid is not painted, and it's not hybridized. It is the result of a patented process that infuses white orchids with a special medium. This technique has been perfected after many years of research and testing, using naturally derived elements and remaining environmentally conscious.") It isn't just Phalaenopsis, either: they've done the same thing with Dendrobium and Anthurium. Also there's a lot of spray-painting of plants going on now, especially succulents (pics at the Dendrobium link). The excuse so far is "well, consumers want them, and if we don't give them what they want then they'll buy artificial plants instead," which I would find easier to accept if I thought that the customers who are clamoring for these plants know the color is fake.
Thanks for the info.. I had wondered just how they managed it, and had assumed a dye process of some kind. I know you can dye some cut flowers with deeply coloured water, and I knew they were painting some plants. One notices it especially on poinsettias this time of year. I have only seen the blue phals, not the other blue orchids, but I agree with you, when you say it would be nice if people knew they were essentially fake, in that the colour won't repeat the next bloom cycle. I wonder how many people would the premium price was worth it, if there was a sign explaining the colour was only good for the length of the current bloom cycle. I sure wouldn't.
