Staking an orchid is a simple and essential process that can help shape the flower spike and support the cascade of flowers that will emerge later. It is important to note that most houseplants do not require stakes, so it may seem intimidating for the first time. However, staking an orchid spike requires a small amount of materials, such as a bamboo flower stake and some flower clips.
Orchids can be heavy and should be staked properly to avoid awkward openings. Staking techniques vary slightly with the type of orchid, and it is essential to secure the spike to the stake once it has begun to grow. For optimum results, staking may need to be considered long before the flowers open. As your experience with orchids grows, you will learn to spot flower spikes.
Orchids in nature do not need staking, and even in cultivation, many orchids will do fine without it. However, staking the flower spike will aid in shaping the spike and supporting the cascade of flowers that will emerge later. It depends on the plant and the size of the spike and flowers. A good rule of thumb is to stake an orchid spike when it has grown to about 6 to 12 inches in length.
Not all orchids need stakes, and some varieties that only produce small spikes won’t benefit from the use of stakes. For some orchids, staking is not necessary. If you have any orchids that are less than huge, it is fine to remove the stake. It is generally not a good idea to stake an inflorescence vertically, as it usually produces a forced, unnatural result. Paphiopedilum orchids would be an example of a plant that would benefit from staking.
📹 What happens when you don’t stake Phalaenopsis flower spikes? 😵💫 – Orchid Care for Beginners
Don’t want to stake flower spikes? That’s totally fine! or is it?? well if the flowers are heavy, then the spikes might break, or the …
📹 Q&A – To stake or not Phalaenopsis Orchids
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I’ve had great success using Keiki paste to regrow broken or damaged spikes. I peel the vellum off the top two nodes and put a blob of the paste on them. I’m doing it now with a phal that had such a long spike that it grew against a metal shade in a window before I noticed and the tip got burnt. Sometimes I do this with clearance aisle phals I get from the grocery store (they sell them for $5 after the blooms die off) so I can see what color flowers they have. I started it thinking I could get some keikis, but I just got blooms. I got keikis the first few times I tried, but none since.
A couple of things I’ve done over the years is to put my phal in a bigger pot, and put pebbles or rocks in the bottom under the orchid to add weight to the bottom. I’ve also taped and tied pots to shelf poles to keep them from toppling. I prefer the au naturel look to phals and most of the time I just let them go wild.
Hi Danny, commenting here from California. I really like your style, you shoot straight from the hip with your valuable tips and information on orchids. Being a plant enthusiast and tropical fish hobbyist your website is certainly a must for me. BTW, great choice of sweatshirts, and your new hair color gives you that charismatic Ann- Margret vibe!
Great article! I happen to have the perfect example of an orchid that MUST be staked. Even though I have it in a heavy 10 inch pot, it would fall over if the flower spikes aren’t staked! It is a Phalaenopsis (formerly Doritaenopsis) Lianher Beauty Gold “1024A-4”. It has 12 large leaves, a massive amount of roots, and this year, it produced 3 flower spikes with 5 inch blooms. The shortest spike is 3 feet long and the longest is 5 feet long. It has been blooming since the beginning of November and it now has branches and what appears to be 2 keikis forming. I purchased it around Christmas of 2020 and every year it gets more massive.
I don’t know if you can answer this question? My orchid is getting some kind of white stuff on bark and a little on the orchid it self. The white stuff happens after I water and feed it, Alison the sphagnum moss looks like it has flowered maybe an illusion. I am a first timer. The orchid was from grocery outlet store about two years ago.
So on my Phal.-Hybrid are 2 flower spikes with buds for months and they aren`t opening. 2 of the started to try out now. Should I just cut off the spikes or leave them? It is always tricky around this season for some of my plants cause I can`t manage the flow of cooler air so well in my small apartment. Gladly i move soon in a bigger one where my plants will be much happier aswell.
I really don’t care for the look of orchids that have their flower spikes staked straight up like huge bunny ears. To me it is very unnatural looking. I have some orchids that I can get away with not staking because their bloom spikes do not get terribly long. I have others, much like her white one, that grow such long spikes that they need to be managed. I had to search to find stakes that were bendable. The bendable stakes at least prevent the giant bunny ear look and enable me to leave the orchids on the shelf that they are usually on. In the past I have had to move the long spiked orchids to the top shelf of my shelves until they were done blooming. One of my shelves is made in such a way that I can use the sides of it as a trellis and let the spike wrap around the edges of the shelves.
please please please answer me, I’m new to growing phalaenopsis orchids, I got them last spring, they had lots of flowers, I did all the instructions you gave in your website, now that we getting closer to spring one of my orchids is growing spike, but the Internet is saying orchids should grow spikes in autumn and bloom in winter What should I do?
Thank you for the article, great topic! I’m not going to stake, I don’t have the space. I also have no idea 🤷♀️ what kind, height, etc of 11 of the 15 Phals I have. 11 have not bloomed since 2019 or 2021😂. But I finally figured it out. I don’t get even 10 hours of sunlight from Oct to April and old potting mix 😂 I love your Hair Colour!❤Carol
I had recently an accident with some of my orchids. Several of them was victims from a freak accident involving gravity (and maybe a cat). Long story short i ended up with doing some repotting. I used sterilized bark mix along with some leca beads. The growing media was pretty “airy” so i could actually see huge parts of the root systems when finished. Just two days later i saw white hairs growing on some of the dendrobium roots. Obviously some sort of fungi. I removed all of the plants “infected” from the pots and dipped their roots in a weak bleach mixture (2-3% i guess) and then let them all air dry. They was of course repotted in sterilized potting mix after that. No watering done just misting carefully. I bet you have experienced similar so i would really like to hear what you would do when repotting plants that are more or less “dormant”. Wish you a great new years eve. Be safe. 😉
After repotting one of my “adopted” phals, I noticed the spike was over 36 inches with flower buds. So I put it inside a pot where I have a Japanese maple that I’ve had for years and leaned the spike against the maple branches. I figured what the heck. Well it seemed to love the spot because it bloomed the following week.. But after it finishes blooming, I don’t know what I’ll do with such a long spike. It’s nice and green. Should I cut it and how far down? Thanks