She was being overly dramatic , maybe because she was worried somebody would ' ve pulled that clip and gotten her in trouble . So she had to be extremely obvious . The man was quoting somebody . Sheesh . We live in a strange period . <| sep |> The spike does seem a little dry bubthe node where I cut it . It also hasn ' t grown in a month . The spike isn ' t going to grow back , or make any other growth . You cut it off so far down the spike that there aren ' t any nodes left to rebloom , so from here on in , it ' s just housekeeping and finishing up . The white streaking is the beginnings of the plant shutting it down and drying it outit ' s salvaging what carbohydrates and water it can from the stub , and will soon jettison it as useless . When it turns totally tan and crispy , it ' s done . I ' m thinking sun bleachingIt can only be sun bleaching if your orchid is in the direct hot sun . Is it ? It shouldn ' t be . So your orchid came with all those dirty water spots ? You should clean them off , as they ' re so thick that they ' re probably interfering with photosynthesis . Use some ordinary household vinegar on a soft clean cloth , and wipe down each leaf very gently , cupping it in your other hand . Be aware that the leaves are brittle and will crack if you push too hard on it with the rag . Once you have a leaf wiped down , go over it again with a second clean cloth with plain water , to remove all the vinegar . I ' ve read online to help create humidity you should spray your orchids , If your humidity is less than about 30 %, you can use a pebble tray to increase the humidity around the plant . This works better than misting , as the water evaporates from the leaves , it hasn ' t changed the humidity permanently . Just a little concerned about the stem , but it may be nothing . The spike is nothing .