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when to cut back a cut back spike

17 years ago

Hi All - I've got a phal Kirby Cassviola 'sweet fragrance' (cassandra alba x violacea alba) - About 3 or 4 months ago I cut back the spike to 1/4 inch above a high node to initiate a 'subspike'. About a month ago it started to send out a new spike from the cut back area. The spike (what is the proper term for when a growth develops on a node from a cut back spike) is about 1/2 inch now and is growing slowly. Last week I noticed a brand new spike was developing at the base (from a higher leaf)! It is now 1/4 inch. There might even be a second new spike (it's been there for about a month, and at first I thought it was a root emerging but it looks like a nub of a spike that is 'dormant' in the sense that it is stunted and hasn't grown any more. SOOOO my question is: do I cut back the spike all the way (the one that is initiating a 'subspike') so that all the plants energy go into developing the new spikes and developing new buds, or do I let it be the way it is now (with the 2 new spikes and the 'subspike')? The plant is very healthy. I keep it in an orchidarium and it gets 60% humidity and is 65-70 at night and about 85 during the day. I use a mixture of cool and warm fluorescents.

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Comments (2)

richardol
17 years ago
With a healthy plant that has had 3 or 4 months rest, I would leave it alone. You made that decision when you originally cut the spike.
arthurm
17 years ago
Generally the advice is to cut the spikes off at the base on complex hybrids. But seeing this orchid is half violacea the best thing to do is to let the plant do its thing.
You will know when to cut the spike down to the base when the spikes become unsightly with many flower scars and are no longer things of beauty.
Just wondering how this orchid will turn out because the parents of Cassandra are equestris and stuartiana.
I cut the spikes down to the base on equestris and do not cut the stalled spikes on violacea because the plant will flower again from stalled spikes in my conditions when summer arrives. Do not know anything about stuartiana.
No doubt someone will come up will the usual if its brown cut it down stuff which probably applies in this case but doesn't apply to many hybrids.
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