Bud fell off?

Discussion in 'Orchidaceae (orchids)' started by tkulba, Oct 8, 2006.

  1. tkulba

    tkulba Member

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    Location:
    Edmonton, AB
    Hi everyone,
    I'm a total newbie to orchids and have been perusing this site for tips. What a terrific resource! Anyway, I bought three little plants last week. From google searchs, they all look like Phalaenopsis plants. Being a total newbie and idiot, however, I promptly 'broke' one of the flower stalks transporting it home. One of the other plants has some open flowers and a number of buds. Looks healthy. This morning, however, one of the buds fell off. So--two questions.
    1) for the plant that I so callously injured. Should I cut down the stalk and treat it as if it had finished flowering? Or is there a possibility that flower buds may emerge on the stalk portion that remains?
    2) what might cause a flower bud to fall off? Might I have over-watered? One of the smallest, lowest leaves on the plant has yellow colouring in it--could that be a sign of something? The other leaves look green and healthy. (?)
    Thanks for any help you can offer.
    --Tracy
     
  2. Toonces

    Toonces Member

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    Location:
    Toronto
    Here's a nice resource page for a beginner!

    http://www.orchidweb.com/phalcare.htm

    If it were me, I'd leave the broken flower stem alone & see what happens. It could take weeks for something to start but in the meantime, if the stalk goes brown & woody, chop it off near the bottom with a clean pair of scissors.

    The yellow leaf at the bottom is absolutely normal - Phals tend to shed them as they grow - leave it alone & it will shrivel up & fall away on it's own. Resist the urge to pull it off b/c that creates a nice wound for potential viruses to enter.

    The fallen bud is simply called Bud Blast. It happens when plants get moved from one type of grow condition to another. It's all there somewhere near the bottom of that link.

    Hope you find it helpful & congratulations on your new orchid collection!
     

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