Orchid Flower Spikes: How to Train New Spikes for Beautiful Blooms

Tropical orchids make great houseplants. They have a reputation for being difficult and fussy, but this is mostly a myth. Orchids are not that difficult to grow, and with the right conditions, they’ll even rebloom for you, potentially providing years of flowers.

One vital part of indoor orchid care, if you’re hoping to get more flowers, is training the new orchid flower spike. Orchids grow a new flower spike in fall or winter. Training ensures the spike grows upright and remains structurally sturdy as it begins to develop flowers and bloom.

Here are some tips on how to handle this important task.

How to Train an Orchid Flower Spike

Watch your orchid regularly in the early spring. Once you see a clear flower spike growing that you can distinguish from the roots, keep an eye on its growth. Let it get to 4 or 6 inches (10 or 15 cm) long before you start training it. Don’t wait for it to get much longer or for buds to form. You want to start training it while it’s still young and flexible.

You can do some training for a shorter spike if it’s really growing in the wrong direction, for instance, down. Gently prop it up with something, like a small stone, to encourage it to grow upward.

Once it begins to grow taller, you can use a stake or a carefully placed grow light to train the new flower spike.

Using a Stake to Direct Growth

The goal of training an orchid spike is to get it to grow mostly upright and to secure it to something sturdy, so it won’t flop over. You can use a thin plastic stake or a bamboo garden stake for this purpose. Insert it into the growing medium in your orchid’s container. Take care not to damage the orchid's roots as you gently push it down. The stake should be close to your orchid’s new spike.

Use flower clips, which you can find in nurseries and garden centers, twine, or twist ties to secure the spike to the stake. These clear acrylic orchid stakes and clips from Amazon will let your orchid shine and not overpower the aesthetics like some black stakes do. Do not place clips or ties on the spike’s nodes. These are the bumps you’ll see on the spike, from which the flowers form.

Apply clips strategically but gently. Start with one or two points of attachment and add a third or fourth as needed, and as the spike gets longer. The last clip should go just below where the flowers start to form. Allow this upper portion to grow freely. This will give you a spike that arches gracefully at the top as the flowers open.

Using Light to Direct Growth

Another way to train your orchid’s spike is to use light. The spike will grow toward a light source, so turn the container so that the spike is set to grow in the direction you want. If your orchids are lacking good light in your home, a small LED grow light like this Barrina puck light from Amazon is a great option. Training with a stake and clips is more reliable, but you can use this method as well to get it just right.

What Can Go Wrong Training an Orchid Flower Spike?

It might not seem like a daunting task to train a stem or spike to grow upright, but there is one major orchid mistake you’ll face: breaking the spike. An orchid flower spike is thin and delicate. If you try to train it too forcefully or quickly, you could snap it right in two.

There is always a risk of breakage when training a flower spike, but it can also break if you don’t train it. If it grows to the side, heavy flowers, once in bloom, can weigh it down and damage or snap it. Patience is key when tackling this houseplant task.

The most important tip for training an orchid flower spike is to do so gently. Never tie the spike into a position that feels forced. If you’re trying to clip it into place and it feels like the spike might break, ease off and adjust your target. Use a combination of training and natural growth to get the healthiest, most abundant flowering spike.

Orchid Essentials