PHAL PROBLEM - Buds are dying

[LMILLER]

I'm in need of help! I am fairly new to this and everyone was so helpful last time, I am hoping for some more good advice. I bought a new Phal. from a orchid hobbyist. It wass beautiful with a lot of buds on it, one was getting ready to bloom. Now I am not sure wha is wrong, it appears to be dying before it has even opened and several of the smaller buds seemed to have dried up. I have near a window so it can get sufficent lighting, I don;t know if it has gotten too cold where it is sitting because it is in a room that tends to get cooler at night, or if it isn't getting enough light, or too much or too little water. Any help any one can give would be great. I really don't want all of the buds to die before they even get a chance to bloom

[mayres]

How cold does the area where your plant sits get at night? You probably don't want to be less than about 60 during their bloom cycle - warmer would be better. Also - cold drafts will be equally bad. Phals are notorious for what is called bud blast when moved from one location to another during blooming. Any change in environmental conditions seems to set them off and cause them to yellow/drop buds - so don't feel bad.
Verify you are taking care of it via the the AOS culture sheets at this link - if you still have questions keep em coming..... AOS | Phalaenopsis

[janeteagle]

Im sorry Im also newto orchids but I can tell you I had the same problem with some new plants. The reason I feel that buds drop is the shock of being put into a different environment, dont know if that is right can only tell you what happened to me. I carried on and misted the plant, and left it in what I considered the perfect place. Cant say its bloomed again but it does seem to be growing healthily. Good luck, dont worry if you lose one or two buds, its all part of the game.

[kmarch]

Bud blast, as we call this, is often caused by a change in environment such as bring a plant home from the store. Phals are especially prone to having bud blast. While it is certainly dissapointing, it does not necessarily mean death to the plant. Phals, given good care, usually grow on to bloom the following year.

If you do not already have a good Phalaenopsis culture sheet, read the one in the Orchid Care section of this forum or get one form AOS | Home.

[Tarad]

Seeing that you are in Michigan the ride home could have done it . When I buy orchids in the winter, I usually get bud blast. What window do you have it in? Also read up on how to water correctly, could be not enough water too, but most likely the temp in the room it is in. I live in Wisconsin and have my phals in a south window. Tara

[janet_a]

yeah, i'm going to say michigan + march = bud blast. i had a bunch of plants out for our local exhibit last weekend, and despite rushing madly back and forth to the car and covering the plants with plastic, one of my phals lost half its buds. but only that one--all the rest are doing fine.

[LMILLER]

I had it in the west window, it seemed like it was getting alot of light during the day. I have actually had the plant for about 2 months now, and it seemed like it was doing fine up until about a week ago. However, our temperature here in MI has been going up & down so much which has been throwing everything else off temperature wise. I have moved it to a South Window now.
Some of the buds do still look OK. I just didn't know if some were still OK, if they would all die off on me. I had picked this one out specifically because it did have so many buds on it, I was hoping to be able to enjoy them all for a long period of time.
I will see if moving it to a different location will help and a least I now have a sense of what might be going on.

[LMILLER]

I have a new question - So I moved the plant to a different window, and now I am noticing that one of the spikes is turning red.... Does it mean it is dying?

[Tarad]

Hmm is there a chance that you can show us a pic of that? Sometimes red or maroon on the leaves means too much sun. You could move the plant back away from the window a little so the sun is not so direct, but the south window is good. Our weather in WI is of course just like yours is, up an down. I had a prob with a few of my phals because of it I believe, cold draft perhaps. Tara