NO!!!!!! and No, too.

1) No way two spikes will be put out and develop if the plant can't sustain it.

Often one spike is a smidge bigger than the other, but so what? Even people are usually stronger on one side than the other.

2) Higher dose of fertilizer? No again, this time in highest decibels.

Orchid roots are extremely sensitive to tiny amounts of nutrients, why the "weakly weekly" advice is given to use extra-dilution with fertilizers for orchids. You don't want to burn the roots. Your orchid's two spikes are telling you it is doing great, and what you are doing *now* is the right thing.

I killed a jasmine once with an overdose of fertilizer (yes, very stupid, I knew better). It took a long time to die, at least 6 weeks, just pathetic. Kept putting out new growth that immediately died back. Very disheartening to watch, especially when you know you did it. But point is, orchids are even easier to kill that way than jasmines.

Please, enjoy your success with this orchid, enjoy your two spikes, and don't mess with success!

PS, be sure to exercise bragging rights here when you get the blooms :)

I agree with mehitabel - if your plant is doing great, and wants to put on a show for you, DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING! I always wonder why we want to change the plant's conditions or circumstances when it is doing exactly what we want it to do in the old conditions. Your excellent culture brought it to this point, trust it to continue.

Congratulations!

Isn't it a great feeling when the plant rewards you for the great care. Enjoy your blooms, on both spikes!

Brooke

I buy phals with two or more spikes because I like lots of flowers.

Thanks all for the replies. I'll go forward leaving the two spikes. Does anyone know the 'odds' of getting two spikes on a plant btw? Is there a statistic for Phals? Just wanted to know how 'lucky' I am.

Usually multiple spikes are due to genetics rather than flukes or culture.

Now there are always exceptions, sometimes culture will encourage more spikes but some orchids no matter what kind of care you give them they just do not ever give more than one spike.

And sometimes things come up from plants that are not supposed to do multiples. For example I have a Paph. 'Love song' that is not supposed to be a multiple bloomer (unless it puts out more than one growth per year) but last year I had two blooms on one spike.

So the short answer to your questions is check parentage or species definitions. And after doing that still nothing is guaranteed or on a schedule per say.

Don't know what the probabilities overall would be -- it would depend on the size of the plant.

But big, vigorous plants will put up two spikes fairly regularly, I think. Probably every year. Thing is, a lot of what's sold as blooming size is *barely* blooming size, so they wouldn't have two spikes.

As for lucky? I'd say so -- you're doing great growing your phal, and it likes living at your house. You're going to have a bounty of flowers that *you* produced. Get to watch the spikes grow, pat yourself on the back and show off to your friends, and they'll be impressed with the flowers.

That's lucky in my book.

I don't know the odds of multiple spikes - I just know that I have six spiking phalaenopsis plants, and three of them are sending out two spikes. One of the single-spike plants sent out two spikes last year, and the other two are younger plants. I believe that plant maturity and good culture are key. I admit, I go for the smaller, multifloral type of phals; I don't have much experience with the larger standard types.

jeanne

@ 50% of my spiking phals have multiples.

Each year I seem to get a few more multi-spiking so I do think it has something to do with all three: maturity, culture and genetics.

Bob

I am taking this opportunity to post something that I have wanted to do for some time now. I have about seventy five Phals. Some are more than ten years old and have become quite large. Each year after they have finished blooming, which is generally about June, I cut all of the spikes. This was a practice that I followed based on the opinion of others. Last summer I didn't cut any of them and I am amazed at the end result. All of the old spikes are budding from the tips and branching from the side nodes and fifty percent or more have double spikes in addition to the old ones. These plants received better care this year than they had received previously which confirms Mehitabel's comment that biowheel's plant would not have made double spikes if the plant was not capable of sustaining them.

Wow, leisurely! That's really good information about the perennial to cut or not to cut question. Especially the side branches.

Actually, I've seen pictures of 3- and 4-year old phal spikes blooming away, and looking lovely.

I think I'll start keeping more spikes, see what happens. I already keep the shorter ones anyway.

I have @ 45 phals.

Beside my violacea/bellina croses, I have several 5-6 year old phals that I left the spikes on for the last few years, a Kenneth Schubert hybrid comes to mind immediately. I've had spikes continually growing from that plant for 3-4 years with anywhere from 5-10 flowers blooming per spike. I actually had one spike that I looped into a couple of circles to keep it in a reasonable perspective to the plant. The spikes get kind of long and leggy looking after a while, when I get tired of them or they look too ragged, I do go ahead and cut. I have a couple of others where the spikes stay short (12-18" after 3 years) and only produce 3-4 flowers on subsequent bloomings, these look nicer but don't give the number of flowers that the Schubert provides. I think my most proilific spiking plant has 3 old blooming spikes and 2 new ones coming in. There are 3-4 new flowers on the old spikes and it appears there will be 5-6 on the new spikes.

I recall that someone posted a picture of a phal in the gallery 3-4 years ago that had 5-6 spikes that were 2-4 years old and 2-3 feet long. Interesting plant but from my viewpoint, it looked 'ugly' with all of those empty flower nodes up and down the stems.

I usually only cut spikes now if they turn brown and start to die, the plant is struggling a bit or they are just plain ugly.

Bob

When the spikes get long and gangly but still are alive, cut them half way back. They will usually branch from the node below and start all over again in better balance. Twice I have cut the spikes back to just above the bottom node and popped a basal keiki. The advances they have made in producing multifloral phals is phenominal.

Brooke

I have to put my phals under lights in the winter and am not sure how one would leave on the old tall spikes waiting for branching, etc, and still get the lights within 8-10" of the leaves. Any thoughts?

hollyt one of my indoor light stands had gaps of 2-3" between fixtures so could position the spikes to go between the lights. Another light stand has the fluros tight to each other and have put the plant in the very front row with the spike going above the light.

I had to have some gaps in some of the fixtures for tall spikes like phrags get - they get REALLY tall.

Brooke

I grow several of my phals on a 3-tiered light cart that has no gaps between the 4 bulb fixtures at each tier. If and when the spikes get to the point that they are about to touch the lights, I move them to a different area in my grow room reserved for taller plants and plants with longer spikes (my papilio stays there permanently). That area is on the periphery of my suspended 4/85 watt CFLS hanging over the tables. I can put @ 20 phals in that area. The light is not 'great' but the phals seem to do pretty well there for a few weeks or even months. Once they flower, the select ones are moved throughout the house and/or taken to the office.

They go back on the cart when they can fit.

HTH,

Bob

Hey, Holly. Definitely a nice problem to have.:)

As the others said, you have to change something to accomodate the tall spikes. *And* check them every day or two, because they tend to bend toward the lights, and will grow right into the lights if you don't watch it.

My spiking phals are under the stationary lights, which are set higher than the moving lights.

As they get taller they get moved to the edges of the lights. When they are getting within a week or so of opening, they go upstairs into the south windows, which have Wonderlites suspended in them. That way I can enjoy the bud fattening up and getting ready to open more often.

I haven't had any problems with bud blasting from moving them upstairs.

Since I like phal spikes au naturel, and the newer hybrids tend to have orderly presentation of flowers, (also at least half of my phals are the "novelty" type) I don't worry overmuch about aligning the buds to the light.

Enjoy your new problem!

I have always cut the spikes off when they are pretty much bloomed out, because I thought it was better for the plant and because i love the look of the tall arched spikes with flowers. I put them in the GH for the summer and then move them in the house under the T-8 shoplights until they are ready to bloom. When they start to open, I put them around the house on tables with some window light. But now with the multi florals I'm just wondering if I'm missing a lot of flowers by not cutting the spike back only to a node and letting them bloom as long as they will. sounds like that's what some of you are doing.

Holly

If you are lucky enough to go to the WOC and look at the Phalaenopsis in the displays, guess what? Yes, you will be lucky to find a rebloomed spike.

The pink standard noid Phalaenopsis sitting in the dining room started blooming in October, has been to several orchid society meetings and an orchid show and the flowers look pretty good.

Of course i could let them die and do nothing and i probably would get a rebloom, but while it has been sitting there just blooming i has not grown a new leaf so in a few week time i'm going to go snip at the base.

Do not tell me you do not want to show your orchids, it doesn't matter whether you do or do not. Your aim should be to grow better flowers even if they are for your eyes only.

Yes, that's sort of my take on the issue. My phals get the biggest leaves when they are not growing flowers, and get the best flowers when they are not also growing leaves. Can't walk and chew gum at the same time, as we say here.

I was one who cut the spikes after the bloom until my sister mentioned that she didn't cut the spike off her phal and it has re-bloomed every 3 months from that spike. Now the original spike is in bloom again and she has two more spikes that are just about 3 inches long. (It's her only orchid - a gift for her birthday this last Feb. Hmmm, beginners luck maybe:-)

I stopped cutting my phal spikes and they are being maintained by the plant but they don't show any evidence of re-blooming. Instead two of the phals are simply putting out new spikes (one has two and one has one.)

I'm not ready to cut the original spikes but I do find it interesting that the plant would put out new spikes instead of using the existing ones. (you would think it would be easier on it to use what's there.) Any thoughts?

It is all in the genetics of the plant and the care you have given it. Congrats on the new spikes and enjoy the show.

Brooke