Do You Stake a Phal Bellina?
 

I noticed the start of a new growth on one of my Phal Bellinas. Could be a root, could be a spike. Too soon to tell.

The optimist in me is hoping that it's a spike... which brings me to my question for the group. Do you stake a Phal Bellina spike? Or do you simply let it grow, unmolested?

Also, do you cut back a Bellina spike after it's done flowering? Or can a Bellina spike rebloom?

I've had two Bellina's for probably close to a year now and they've put out some new leaves and lots of new roots.... but have not spiked yet. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks.

- J

i dont stalke my girls spikes.

and no, never cut them as long as they stay green and ferm, they re-bloom from older spikes

Thanks Erce. How big do they have to be before they start throwing out spikes? My 2 are still pretty small...

I agree with Erce, don't cut!
I did put a small piece of polystyrene just under a spike to lift it up slightly from the leaves..
I hope you get blooms this year.

Thanks nenella! I would love to see a picture of the polystyrene support. Is it just a peanut or is it something more involved?

Thanks again.

- J

Hi
I've looked at all my photos and none show the bit of polystyrene -Sorry - I must have deleted the ones that showed the polystyrene (every time it flowers I can't help taking photos :D )
It was just a very small piece about 1 cm x 0.5'ish... & just sat under the stem whilst spike blooming. I don't remember when I took it out? must have been this past winter. I'll try & remember to take a photo this summer (mine blooms july/august)
I'm sure I don't need to tell you but if you decide to do this be very careful!

I put your helpful hint to good use with the bellina I received Friday from Hilltop Orchids, as the bloom was pressed against the foremost leaf and the bud. I just ever so gently finessed a little chunk of styro between the leaf and the spike.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...al-bellina.jpg

This little guy spent most of this week with USPS. The delivery guy apparently neglected to ring my door buzzer Thursday, so I had to trek down to the PO in the morning to retrieve it.

Interestingly, when I wrote back to Hilltop last week to inquire of my order status, they replied: "We had asked our Webmaster to remove bellina from our website, as we are temporarily out of them, however that didn’t get done in a timely fashion. When your order came in, we took several days and made a thorough search of the greenhouses and finally found one very nice plant that is in spike. No blooms yet."

So I was figuring on waiting patiently for weeks or months to see my first bloom. Imagine my delite to find it had subsequently bloomed and has another bud pretty far along (I think there may be a 3rd bud getting ready to emerge as well). I have to wonder whether it had bloomed before they shipped it or in transit in that dark box.

Jayfar- I love the form of your bellina! What a wonderful find. One of my favorites.

wow! that's beautiful! What a nice surprise!

Thanks, I'm loving it. The undulating curves in the shiny leaves, which I understand is characteristic of bellinas, adds a lot of charm. I'm still pretty much a newbie, but when I first saw a pic of a bellina in these forums, I knew it was one I had to have. Well maybe more than one soon; you know how that goes.