Bud blast

[otis 226]

I thought, since I currently have 2 plants that are going through this, I'd post some pics, so maybe some newer geeks could see a part of raising orchids that we all experience sooner or later. This first plant is Rlc (Pot) Samantha Duncan 'Red Hot'. It was a wonderful surprise gift from my friend and fellow geek, Brigitte. It came from a very reliable vendor in HI, and arrived with what looked like 4 healthy buds on a nice looking little plant. Within 4 days the first bloom stem started to turn yellow, than orange. The bud continues to stay red, as if to taunt me

The other plant is my Paph primilinum. The first bloom was great and lasted about twice as long as the one it carried when I first obtained it, back in June. I made sure not to move it from its window sill position, except for some photo ops. In the last pic I tried to show the bloom partially open, but empty, but it fell off as the camera lens got close
Since I can't show lovely bloom pics right now, I hope this has a small educational value.
Tony

[otis 226]

And the little Paph

In case anyone is wondering, the humidity in my house averages 50-60%, and in the lanai, where the mini catt has been, its above 70% this past week.

[Filb]

Oh sad day...bud blast is so frustrating..
I can't really offer any advice, but I offer empathy!

[otis 226]

Originally Posted by Filb

Oh sad day...bud blast is so frustrating..
I can't really offer any advice, but I offer empathy!

Thanks, but it'll happen. Just wanted to show some of the newer geeks what it could look like.

[larryt]

Thanks Tony, I just had the same thing happen to two vandas that I received over the last two months, each from a different vendor, both highly regarded. The first was three days in the mail, arrived with the buds starting to turn brown, within three days the entire spike was dried out. The second was in the mail one day. The last three buds were brown and dried out, gone forever the first bud opened but just hung there very droopy and sick looking, the second bud opened and looked a little better but still bad. The third started to open but stopped about a week ago and the last has done nothing. The blooms and petals look sick, bad color and some brown spots.

Oh well, do do happens

Thanks for the post.
Larry

[otis 226]

Don't worry, Larryt. Just when you think your orchids are out to get you, they turn around and give you a lovely surprise like this! I guess that's why we love 'em and keep coming back for more
Less than 24 hrs. after I cut the bad bloom stalk off my Rlc Samantha Duncan 'Red Hot', she decided to grace us with the 3rd bloom actually opening. I'll take more pics if #4 opens at the same time. Oh, I threw in the pic of one of my Christmas cacti 1st blooms. They are like clockwork this time of year.
Thanks again, Brigitte, for not only being my friend, but just an all around super person that I have the priviledge to know.
Cheers,
Tony

[JudyC]

Bud blast is definitely not nice I have so much to learn, but I "do" take this as an educational lesson - thank you for posting for us newbies!

[jessie]

Hi, I am having trouble with my orchids starting new stem's, growing buds and then stopping, and then nothing happens?? What is the problem?

[BGGraham1]

Oh, Tony!!! Its GORGEOUS!!! Definitely deserves a thread of its own - don't you think??

[otis 226]

Originally Posted by jessie

Hi, I am having trouble with my orchids starting new stem's, growing buds and then stopping, and then nothing happens?? What is the problem?

Dunno, I have several Cattleyas that have formed sheaths a couple of months ago and then stopped. With orchids, I just think you never know what they're up to , but patience usually wins out!

Cheers,
Tony

P.S. Brigitte, if she opens bloom #4 while this one is still with us, I'll post in a new thread if you like!

[sunshine]

Originally Posted by jessie

Hi, I am having trouble with my orchids starting new stem's, growing buds and then stopping, and then nothing happens?? What is the problem?

What orchid is doing this? That is normal especially for phals. It takes 120 days for a phal to bloom. A watched pot never boils

Otis, love the Rlc Samantha Duncan 'Red Hot' what a little cutie and lovely shade of red I feel your pain on blood blast. I have some catts in sheath and aren't doing nothing and have some that are all dried up.Have been told to leave them alone. Sheaths really test your patience.

[NancyG]

My Brassavola had 3 spikes with multiple buds and suddenly they blasted. I hate when that happens. They are under lights. Could the temperature of the water cause that? I can't figure out what caused it. They were in the same spot under the lights the whole time.

Sorry to hear about yours.

[Mamarazzi]

How about bud blast with a drop of sap? I had a small Phal that I brought home about 4 months ago that had a spent spike. Over the last few months it's slowly put out a small shoot with 4 buds. One has opened, one is a bit droopy, but two fell off a couple of days ago. They both had a drop of sap at the drop point. Is this due to a pest of some sort? I just got Orange Guard and Neem oil, but other than that I only have seaweed fertilizer, KLN and Superthrive for supplies. I've got a great website for at home remedies for certain things, but I don't know which would be appropriate.

Thanks!

Lisa

[Brandon Tam]

From my experience with my plants, bud blasts typically occurs when there is a lot of ethylene gas which might come things such as an apple. Another possible cause is when you move your plants from location to location to often. The plants will drop their buds because of the change in environment. They typically drop their buds when they go into shock. The dropping of the bud is to preserve their energy to prepare themselves for the environment change instead. They would rather save their energy to preserve themselves rather than bloom their flowers.

[ceciyang]

I read that it could be the sudden change of environment, such as a heater or an AC close by, or too much light. It's really frustrating when that happens because it's hard to know what exactly caused it. I had purchased a mini phal and suddenly stopped blooming. I thought it needed water so after I watered it, it started to develop white furry thingies around the roots. Eventually, it died on me and I was so sad... I went out and bought two more

[terra_australis]

My Den. superbiens just dropped all the buds on one spike. Not sure what caused it but I guess it could be the weather changes recently. We've had days of solid rain followed by hot sunny days and although my Den is in the greenhouse I think the conditions in there would fluctuate a fair bit as well.

In any case, there's a second spike so... fingers crossed.

[jsehorn]

Bud blast is the bane of my existence. It doesn't happen often, but it is so very disappointing when you've waited for an entire year for a plant to bloom again, and those buds start to grow, and you get all excited... and then they wither and drop.

I find that temperature fluctuations while the plant is in spike increases the likelihood of bud blast, so try to keep plants in bud at an even temperature.

[Greybeard]

Tony, beautiful plants, sorry about the darn bud blast but you'll be getting more buds in no time. My little babies are not old enough to spike yet so at least you got that my time will come though Oh, and thanks for the well wishes, I'm back to stay Mamarazzi, I wouldn't worry about the sap seeping from where the buds fell off, I'm pretty sure that is natural, kind of like bleeding from a boo boo and if the spike stays green and healthy you might get a sub-spike Tony, I heard you like bonsai() Liberty White started a thread on that, so she might contact you

[vanda_obsession]

I've had some phals buds blast on me, luckily not all of them, but some of them did. I'm guessing it was from me putting them outside when it was sunny and warm and bringing them in at night when I come home when it's pretty cool outside and it's warm inside.