I have a few :>) Doritis champornensis and it branches too. Phal. florensis Ooops, no pic. Phal. #568 and the bloom. Phal. fasciata has three spikes and one is branched. Phal. Freida Shapira 'Peter Lin #4' One spike blooming now, oldest spike growing and branching and a new spike. Phal. (Pumpkin Patch x John's Gold) Two spikes from last year buds are swelling and this year's spike is blooming. Phal. Hilltop's Jewel Four spikes total, one blooming now but three other spikes have buds swelling, plus a basal keiki. Phal. Penang Girl 'Ching Ruey' This has not bloomed for me yet but I just found a third spike on the original growth, the other two spikes are on a basal keiki. And the last one is Dtps. Sogo Manager 'Kuo' I purchased this from my grocery last summer, it was my first yellow. I intended to mount it when the g/h was finished but it wouldn't quit blooming plus popped a basal keiki. Not deterred, I mounted it anyway and it never missed a beat. I have four new spikes with buds almost ready to open on two of them plus the original two spikes have branched where I cut them back. I will get a picture of the mount blooming later this spring. It should be gorgeous. Brooke

Jujujojo based on my experience I only find that going a little larger every one to two years just helps prevent the mulitiple layers of roots growing around each other. At the same time I go a little bigger with each repot only to help the plant look proportional to the pot. All the phals I have are not miniatures by any stretch but I have also found that if I keep the pot to small, when I get a spike the whole plant and pot want to tip over. Now my oldest Phal is the only one with such a big pot. The rest of the phals I have are in nothing bigger than a six inch wide pot. I completely agree with Brooke in every aspect of pot size to the plant. That's how I've always raised my phals and it seems to work. I've lost my fiar share of plants over the years and its been hard to see them die. But it's a game of win and loose. I honestly would have to say aside from providing the plants with what they need to grow and fertilizing it regularly. It will continue to grow at its own pace and with years to come it will show you what it's suppose to do as it matures.

I thought Phal bloom time was over - I rescued five plants that had Easter bloom from Kroger - manager's special had them going for five bucks apiece - and one was $1.99! Well last week this plant set to elongating the branched stem that had already bloomed and the new brach has a nice spray of buds!

Hi! We've all gone through this learning process, and it continues to this day. To cut or not to cut is an eternal debate in orchid growing. I've enclosed a link below to the FAQ, which are an excellent resource for you, and there is a question specifically about cutting the spike. Your options are this as I see it: cut into the green spike, right above the last unflowered node (or a couple of centimeters below your dragonfly clip, above that bract). You would do this in the hopes that it would put out another branch. Or you can cut the spike all the way at the bottom. Doing this will encourage your orchid to put energy into vegetative growth and, when the time is right and with proper care, it will put a brand new spike, which will make for a much better display. It's really up to you. Julie Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ