Orchid is too high, can I cut it in half?

[Oriyan]

My orchid became very high and it leans to the side. I consider cutting it in half, but I can't find any guidance about it online, would you recommend not to do that, or is it okay?

EDIT: Added a photo of it's last bloom

[Orchid Whisperer]

Don't cut it. I have seen heaalty plants even taller than yours.

[SillyKeiki]

OMG I wish I had a Phal as healthy and tall as yours. Please don't cut it, you will most probably kill it. You have an excellent Phal take good care of it!

[Oriyan]

LOL. I know it's healthy, it just became annoying to deal with. But if you advise against it, then I'll keep taking care of it.

[Dollythehun]

Find it a good home and look for a mini but, don't cut it!

[dbarron]

You do realize (here on this board) that it's almost like you're saying, your son is too tall, can you cut his legs off to make him shorter?

[SillyKeiki]

I strongly agree with dbarron.

[orchidsarefun]

If you decide to cut it make sure the top piece has many roots. In theory both pieces should grow if treated well.
I know this is a phal but I know vanda growers propagate this way regularly.

[Mountaineer370]

That is a beautiful Phalaenopsis! I hope you will not try to cut it. I pot my Phals the same way as that one, in a clear plastic pot. A couple of mine are approaching that size and have started leaning heavily. To lessen the chance of it tipping over, you can always put the plastic pot into a larger, heavier clay pot, or even a ceramic pot as long as it has drainage holes. Just make sure there is some space between the sides of your plastic pot and the inside of the clay or ceramic pot, enough to still allow adequate air circulation but not so much that the plastic pot still can fall inside the outer pot. Some people will also use those expensive decorative orchid pots that have lots of openings all the way around for increased ventilation.

[sweetjblue]

While most of us want big healthy happy plants sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. If the plant is taking up too much room height wise or other, there's no reason you can't make two plants out of it. Still going to get the same amount of blooms out of the main plant.
Just keep treating both parts of the plant the way you normally do. The lower part will put out a basal keiki (or more) and eventually you have two really nice plants.

Here's an article dealing on what you'd like to do.

Big Leaf Orchid forum • View topic - Whack it Back.

You might have to sign up or sign in to see the pics but the article shows it can be done and some well known growers of phals do it more than you might think.


Judi