Hi from Michigan

[Sheri]

Hi! I'm new to the forum and new to growing orchids. (Thank you patticake for helping me thus far!) I am currently growing Shary Babys and I recently noticed what looked like dew drops around the old, dead buds. When I touched them, however, they were a sticky, sap-like substance. Any clue what this is and if I'm doing something wrong?

[jbigio]

Its sap which is normal lots of orchids get this on the stems when budding.
Joe

[Sheri]

Greetings! I'm from Michigan, the sunny state - HA! I've only JUST gotten into orchids recently after flying to Hawaii for my honeymoon and visiting a tropical orchid farm there. I fell in LOVE with Shary Baby orchids! The smell, the delicacy of each beautiful flower...they are precious! (They also share my nickname!) Anyway, I raved about these tiny flowers so much, that when we returned to the mainland, my husband had them SHIPPED to me! So far, I seem to have some kind of "dumb-luck" about growing them because they bloomed far longer than their true season, from what I've read, but then when the buds all died out, I thought the plant was dead. The leaves are still green and growing like crazy, but around the dead buds is a sappy substance. Is this normal? What IS it?

[Sheri]

Excellent! So that means they're going to bud again? Thank you!

[fred]

welcome to the forum Sheri

just for the sake of all of us orchidgeeks could you please let us know the full name of your orchid that you are talking about.


just because you see the sap like fluid does not mean they are going to bud again

what you will need to do is provide the right culture for the orchid you are talking about

[kmarch]

Hi Sheri and welcome to the forum. I too am a Michigander but now transplanted to Australia.

You've actually already answered your own question. The sappy substance is just that, sap and it is wuite normal for orchids to "leak" a bit of sap from a bud or growing leaf tip. Having the buds die off is also no cause for concern. We call it "bud blast" and there are several causes for it, the most common being changes in the conditions in which the plant is being grown. For example a budding orchid growing happily in a nursery will sometimes blast all of its buds when taken home to different conditions. It's also a fairly common occurrence and nothing to be worried about. It's more of a disappointment than a danger that you'll loose the plant.

[digitalgate]

old bulb? strange.Do you see any holes on the bulb? Two weeks ago my Oncidium was
attack by one Weevil , burrowing into the new bulb. I kill the bug and throw away the
young bulb. Now It has regrow another bulb.

[kmarch]

digitalgate,

Give Sheri's post another read. It doesn't say anything about bulbs. Are you replying to something from another thread or post?

[digitalgate]

you right. I misread bud into bulb... big different.