My Paph Berenice is in bud. What is the best way to train the spike? Vertically or let it grow more horizontally?

Snip it with scissors :poke: I would imagine it is up to you!

Snip it with scissors :poke:

:shock:

I tend to leave them alone until it is clear that something needs to be done. This doesn't make for them being trained well for easy transport though, I've found, so I'd be curious to the answer to this as well. I have a show at the end of February that it is looking as though I may be able to contribute to, so this would be pertinant information now.

I think it is a personal choice and personally I prefer the more "natural" look without the stakes. Check out my Berenice flowers photos in the gallery.

We better get a judge to way in on this one, but most of the multiflorals I see end up getting staked more or less vertically. The point is to maximize the presentation of the flowers. When you stake them up high the flowers tend to tilt back so the dorsal sepal doesn't hide the face of the pouch. Also the individual flowers are not all on the same plane blocking the view of each other.

Not realy natural, but that is the point.

Theproblem with this one is that it had 7 flowers open at once and that make for a long spike vertically or horizontally. Last year I trained the first few flowers vetically and the hoped that the rest would form a nice graceful arch. Unfortunately the spike took an immediate 90 degree turn and went horizontally, angling downward. I'm afraid if I let the spike follow the normal horivontal lowii tendency, the weight of the long spike and that many flowers will make the plant EXTREMELY unstable. I would be also interested to hear what AOS judges prefer.

I would be also interested to hear what AOS judges prefer.

Me too! Same issue going on.

For show tables I've been just not worrying about it, until I get in the car to transport it and it waves all over the place scarily! Now, however, I'm getting close to an actual AOS judged show. I don't know how tightly or loosely to stake, and what the best technique is! And what the time to stake it is! At home, yeah, natural is great, but not for showing.

Oh it's for the show! Then I'm the wrong person to give advice, sorry!

A multifloral like Berenice should have a natural appearance when staking it. This hybrid tends to arch out similar to lowii, and staking it more erect would be counter to the natural instinct of the plant. A plant such as a hybrid with roth in the background could be staked more vertical since the species looks more natural in a vertical stance.
In my opinion plants like Odontoglossums look much more natural with a beautiful arch to the inflorescence than staked up like a straight jacket.......Of course this depends on the background of the cross.

Thanks, Bill.

Hey Ross, how are you? I personally like to stake up multi-floral paphs because they are pot plants and growing upright. In nature, many of these multi-floral paphs are growing on the sides of cliffs and therefore the spikes come out horizontally and slightly arch down... in pot culture they will tend to get top heavy and lean, sometimes even breaking off the spike (I see this more with intergenerics and phals). One thing I do notice is that most species can hold their own quite well (as that is what they are designed to do), but hybrids often require staking because we have bred them to get bigger flowers which adds weight.

Most judges would rather the spike be upright because it is easier for them to examine all the flowers. On our recently awarded Jason Fischer, I heard that a point was taken off because the spike had a little bend in it, which is understandable... when you are working on an FCC every little detail counts!

By the way, I got a new computer and can't find your e-mail address. Send me a mail when you get a chance jasonmakoto@hotmail.com

I tend to treat multiflorals much like Phals. I stake them using a flexible wire that has some spring to it thereby offering support to the spike but allowing it to have a graceful curve. Rigidly upright in the style of a redwood tree is in my opinion unnatural and unappealing. As I learned in a photographic composition class many years ago, most human beings have a natural tendancy to prefer curves over straight lines.

Darin

Thanks for all the helpful comments! I tried a modified approach: I staked the inflorescence upright as far as the first bud and then let it grow sideways as it wanted to do. Five flowers are open. I will try to get a picture to post in the next week. :)

Ross, I've got five buds on the Berenice I bought from you earlier this year also. :)
Can't wait to see them both in bloom!

Ross, I've got five buds on the Berenice I bought from you earlier this year also. :)
Can't wait to see them both in bloom!

Way to go, Heather! :Party: That's an increase from last year's four flowers. Just shows what a maturing plant in the hands of a good grower can do! :clap: