I have been gardening for years, vegetables mainly, but I seem to like orchids! But know pretty much nothing about them, I have had two orchid plants...leaves look great, but when it gets done blooming & the flowers fall off....the stem starts to go brown and dry? Am I doing something wrong or what do I do once the stem goes brown?
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- applestar
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The "stem" is the flower stalk and in most cases, it's job is done once the blooms are finished, so just cut it off close to the base as you can.
Sometimes, there is a little leaf-like structure along the flower stalk and a baby plantlet will grow from that node. If this happens, provide extra humidity and keep the baby growing attached until it's own roots start elongating, then what I do is bend the stalk over and pin the baby down (with ground staple or more often than not, Chinese food takeout box bail wire or wire coat hanger) in another pot of orchid bark mixed with potting soil. Once it's rooted and growing well, I cut it off from the mother plant.
Sometimes, there is a little leaf-like structure along the flower stalk and a baby plantlet will grow from that node. If this happens, provide extra humidity and keep the baby growing attached until it's own roots start elongating, then what I do is bend the stalk over and pin the baby down (with ground staple or more often than not, Chinese food takeout box bail wire or wire coat hanger) in another pot of orchid bark mixed with potting soil. Once it's rooted and growing well, I cut it off from the mother plant.
I have an orchid that looks identical to yours Once the last bloom drops I cut the stalk back just as applestar mentioned. I've had mine for a couple of years and it seems to start a new stalk every few months after I cut back the previous stalk. It's always exciting to see a new stalk poking its head up!