Alll my buds are gone...HELP!

[Orchid478]

So I am a new orchid owner...I have a Phal which I received in Valentines Day. There were 3 beautiful bulbs and now they are all gone. Will they grow back? The roots and leaves appear to be healthy. I have watered and fertilzed. I also have a humidity tray. What else can I do?

Thanks!

[dipasquo]

Hi. Sorry you are having trouble with your V-Day Phal. More clarification is probably needed in order to get to the bottom of the problem. First, when you say "3 beautiful bulbs" are you talking about flower buds that had not yet opened into flowers? When you say they are gone, what do you mean? Have they shriveled up, changed colors, dropped off, etc.? Providing details about your watering and fertilizing will be informative too; a lot of orchids suffer from over-watering. A picture always says 1000 words, too...

[Orchid478]

They were flower buds that opened to flowers. They were slowly closing up and just dropped one by one. Now there is nothing. When I first got my Phal I watered and fertilized. The soil is stil wet, so I do not think it needs to be watered again. I also keep it in the window but not in direct sun. The temps are about 60-65.

[kmarch]

Orchid478,

Your experience is very common. Many people are given or brign home their phals only to have all of the flowers and/or buds drop off. Phals frequently react to changes in conditions. Just taking them home from the store can be enough to make the flowers drop.

Your other conditions sound reasonably good so far. Get a good culture sheet from the American Orchid Society or this forum and it will tell you how to grow these lovely orchids. Give it a read and let us know if you have questions.

The good news is that your phal is not sick or dying and it can very well go on to bloom again next year.

[BunnytheOrchid]

If the flowers opened and then actually started to close, sounds like to me it was at the end of its flowering cycle. Bud blast is a possibility if the temperature change was too traumatic, but if the flowers actually closed, then it sounds like a normal flowering cycle