My orchid is growing a shoot. Should I stake it?
Staking orchids is easy and essential for growing your standard indoor orchids. Most orchids do not naturally grow up, as we see them sold in our local florist shops. In nature they sometimes grow on trees, clinging to them and sometimes growing down (as shown below). It will not hurt your orchid to stake it, we simply do this because it looks pretty growing in our homes.
Overview
I normally wait till my spikes are at least 3 – 4 inches long and then I gentle attach them to a stake and wait for them to grow even longer before attaching a second clip. They are so fragile at first and will break very easily. This has happened to me before and I was heart broken. Then you can gradually add more clips and manipulate it straight up.
On the other hand if you wait till they are much longer and try to stake them then they can break as well becasue at this time they have hardened a bit. You have to start when they are smaller but be very careful because the new stalk is tender and gradually gets much firmer as it grows.
How to stake an orchid
1. Once your orchid shoot/spike has begun growing it will grow upwards for a couple of inches before it would naturally starts falling. At this time get a stake (I get mine from here) and gently push it in the mix next to the shoot (as shown below).
2. Then take ties/clips to secure it to the stake.
Note: be careful with orchid spikes…as stated above, they are fragile until they are bigger. I recently went to clip the spike of an orchid to a stake and the tip broke off. It was very upsetting. Make sure they are a couple of inches (at least 3 inches) long before clipping them and be very gentle!
There are many ties/clips you can choose from. Here are two examples of basic clips and then some fun clips…
3. As your orchid shoot grows you will need small to large steaks. Gently replace the stakes, with larger ones, as it grows (as shown below).
4. Eventually it will begin to show bulbs and at this point you can let it fall naturally at that top to create an arch, which will give it a nice full look (as shown below).
Below is what your orchid should look like when fully bloomed and staked properly.
Hope that helps,
Hannah
Feel free to leave comments or questions.
