They do rebloom if the spike is green. It may take some time. It would generally be better to cut it off, but opinions vary, so whatever you feel like, do that.

Read the FAQ, read past posts, look at the picture and make a decision.
{{gwi:139414}}

Why does the orchid look like this? Because it was a $10 rescue with dead blooms.
Wanted to see the flower quality and the stem was cut back to a node. The new side branch was broken. So it grew an new side branch that flowered. Needless to say the spike was then cut off at the base and a new spike is growing after the plant was cooled down in early autumn.
If you go to an orchid show you will be hard pressed to find a rebloomed spike on a standard pink or white phalaenopsis.

Hi Debbie !

I did the forced secondary blooming with some of my first Phals but it was brought to my attention that the secondary blooms are usually smaller and less colorful. Even if that's not so, like our orchid society's recent speaker just pointed out = blooming is the biggest stress factor to an orchid (or any flowering plant) so you have to ask yourself if the secondary blooms are worth it to you. I have enough orchids so that some are always in bloom and I don't do that any more. I cut the spike off at the base and cinnamon it.

Chryss

I can speak with more authority on Tolumnia Hybrids. I have hundreds of them and many will rebloom if you cut back to a node.
Say the original blooming has 10 flowers. You might get 3 to 5 flowers from a side spike if you cut back to a node.
This is a handy trait if a snail or a grub eats the end of the original spike and you need it to bloom for breeding or some other reason. But i usually cut spent spikes back to the base to let the plant get on with the business of growing.
Back to Phalaenopsis. Last year one of mine ( a pink standard) had 17 blooms and it was a picture for several months. What more can you ask of a plant so i went snip and it (hopefully) got on with the business of growing and maybe i'll get 17 flowers again.
Re. the primary hybrids (Phals) Haven't got any violacea/bellina hybrids so i cannot advise, but if they follow the parent's flowering pattern, i wouldn't cut. Not so sure about some of the other species because after reading some of the posts here i did not cut Phal. leudemanniana spikes and now i have keikis.

The luddemaniana is famous for producing keikis. The keikis will bloom before they produce enough roots to survive on their own.

{{gwi:143422}} The mother plant is at the top of the totem and all other growths are keikis still attached to the main plant. Which reminds me, I need a pic this year because it is currently blooming all over the totem.

Chryss I hope you didn't cut the spike from your pallens since they bloom from the same spike for years.

Brooke

I would cut it all the way down. Let the plant concentrate on leaf and root growth for the summer. You will have a much better blooming this winter/spring that way.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Brooke,

Thanks for the tip but my pallens is just a baby seedling and hasn't spiked yet. I'll remember now not to cut it.

Thanks again,
Chryss

thanks all. i'll decide this weekend. the plant just grew a huge new beautiful leaf, so, it's clearly doing well. i'm not so sure it is going to rebloom from the same stem if I leave it completely alone and don't cut it at all. So, my choice is really to cut it to a node or cut the whole thing down to the crown. Hmmm....

arthurm: i've see your pic before and read many posts about whether or not to cut the spike. I posted my thread because I still couldn't decide what to do.

I vote for cutting it to the base. Your plant may wait to start growing on it's spike until the normal flowering time - why not have the plant put its energy into a new beautiful fresh spike than a few flowers on the old spike?

Enjoy whatever you do,

jeanne

Brooke, thanks for that bit of info. about lueddemanniana. I'll leave the keikis on and observe what happens when the plant blooms.

Arthurm I am here to serve :>)

The little blooming keiki pictured above was cut off and sent to a friend. I left the long spike and figured it would keiki again. This year, it is producing a bloom from that spike - they do whatever they want.

Brooke

You got THAT right Brooke, they do WHATEVER they want !!!! LOL !!!

Chryss

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT, Brooke, they do WHATEVER THEY WANT !!!! LOL !!!

Chryss

Hi, FWIW, I would cut the spike to allow for stronger plant growth and subsequent blooming. However, Bob Gordon in his book on phals recommends not cutting the spikes on "summer bloomers." For what reason, I have no idea.

Boyne

Boyne, the recommendation is there because of orchids like Phal. bellina or violacea which in my conditions bloom in summer and then blooming stalls as my growing area cools down in autumn.

The stalled spikes then rebloom as the weather warms up.

These stalled spikes are not unsightly as they are on some other sequential bloomers.