new to orchid...how do I keep it?

[SandieL]

I have a purple orchid..I think butterfly something??...It has started to drop most of its buds..will more grow, do I need to cut back or repot....I have kept it moist and not in direct sun, but a bright room...any help would be appreciated.Thanks

[winky]

I am curious about people's experience with bud drop also. It seems to happen to me mostly with orchids when they bloom for the first time after purchase. Stress? Or is it the neighbor's pesky outdoor coal furnace?

[arleneg]

Bud drop may be due to stress, especially after purchase. If you purchased it from a nursery, the orchid is having to deal with the change of environment -- from ideal/controlled levels of humidity, light, etc. to possibly a lower humidity level and a fluctuating environment it's not used to. Don't worry. Your orchid will adapt.

Please let us know what type of orchid you have and add your location to your profile. With these info, we can better help/answer your questions. Plus, posting pictures of the plant in question can help. Unfortunately, you won't be able to do that until you have posted, at least, 10 messages on this forum.

Happy new year!

[mayres]

Sandie -
Like Arlene said - just a change in environment from where the plant was grown can cause it to drop buds. I have found plants which are grown in my environment can spike and produce flowers OK, but this same environment is NOT initially OK when I place a new blooming plant in it. Many of the orchids take time to adapt to your conditions.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

It is not just orchids that have this adjustment problem. I brought a Boston fern into the house because I was running out of room in the greenhouse for orchids. It had plenty of long fronds. I accidentally let the fern go dry in the house and the plant dropped thousands of leaves. Looked like it snowed all over my living room. Watered the plant, and it started a few new fronds. A half dozen or more fronds are now about 3' long. Now, over this time I have accidentally let this fern go dry plenty of times and not a leaf has dropped. Same problem the few times I bought fiddle leaf figs plants. Usually I loose the plant completely. Finally, I got a small one with about six plants in the pot. There was enough material here that a few made it thru the adjustment process, and now I have 3 plants in that much too small pot to avoid leting it dry out, but other than an occasional leaf lost to this carelessness, it just keeps going.

[Maddy]

Weeping figs are even pickier than fiddleleaf figs - mine did wonderfully all through the summer, then, the instant the heat had to come on in the fall - bam, there went most of the leaves all over the place. It still hasn't quite recovered, but at least it's getting some back.

I've had some orchids shipped from CA to NY that didn't even flinch, much less drop a bud, but I've also had a couple I bought locally drop every bud in no time flat. It just depends on the individual plant, I guess.

[desertgal]

In my experience a plant that has been not been watered or has been overwatered will drop their buds. If my local supermarket is getting a shipment of orchids I try to buy the first day they are put out. If I wait too long they are too dry and drop their buds. The manager of the floral department says that she does not have time to water properly and when they do they are often left sitting in water which causes the root rot. I've learned to watch for dry medium, wilted leaves and wilted blooms.