Bud blast can quickly take orchid owners from excited to heart-broken. One moment your Phalaenopsis orchid is covered with fat buds and you’re excitedly waiting for them to bloom. The next moment you find the stalk bare and the tabletop littered with slowly-browning orchid buds. When you’ve waited 8 months or more for your Phalaenopsis to bloom again, the disappointment can be crushing when orchids succumb to premature bud loss.
Bud blast, or premature bud loss, is most often caused by sudden temperature or environmental changes; although lack of moisture and root problems can also cause an orchid to drop its buds before they bloom. Also, orchid buds are the most sensitive part of an orchid so be sure you are not handling your orchid with dirty hands—this can also cause problems. If the buds on your Phalaenopsis orchid become soft or turn brown and papery and start to drop from the stalk before they open, look for the following possible causes:
Check out our orchid care videos for more information about orchid bud loss and how to keep orchid buds healthy.
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