Bud blast question

[Keysguy]

I have a couple things going on I am curious to get your collective wisdom on.

#1 is bud blast on this specimen Epicyc. Serena O'Neill.
Yes, it's gorgeous (and smells amazing too) but it could have had two-three times as many flowers. For reasons I can't figure out, when the buds are about 1/2 developed (so some would have opened) it starts blasting buds. I'm guessing it's one of 2 things; either there is a nutritional deficiency of some sort or it's a genetics thing where it produces more buds than it needs to ensure there are ample blooms to ensure reproduction. It does this every year and I have very few plants that blast on me and never 2 years in a row let alone as many as I've had this plant.

Thoughts?

I'll post #2 separately.

[DirtyCoconuts]

that is curious.. and it does not seem to be uniform at all in the ones it blasts, not the first or the last ones formed...

i think your theory is pretty valid..that is a big colony so there is a ton of new growth each year correct? maybe it just makes more than it needs.

the ones you got are quite lovely

[Ray]

I doubt it’s a nutritional deficiency, but I do tend to lean toward something cultural, as opposed to genetic. Could be almost anything - a brief period of underwatering, a beam of direct sunlight sneaked past some shade, a blast of cold or hot, dry air...

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by Ray

I doubt it’s a nutritional deficiency, but I do tend to lean toward something cultural, as opposed to genetic. Could be almost anything - a brief period of underwatering, a beam of direct sunlight sneaked past some shade, a blast of cold or hot, dry air...

yeah, but year after year when no other buds are blasting??? that was too curious for me to think that way

[SouthPark]

Maybe a comparison could be done. Such as for each of those plants - not the same cultivar, growing in the same area ------ record the percentage of buds that didn't make it. And also estimate the absolute number of buds too - surviving and non-surviving. If other plants of similar variety and similar size, with similar numbers of flowers ------ are consistently (years on end) getting no losses in buds ...... then that will be something interesting to look into here.

[Keysguy]

all good points.
It grows on a bench with other Encyclia's and Epidendrums. Have never seen this on any of the others so don't think it's anything to do with that micro climate unless it's just something that particular plant is struggling with. Just seems odd to me, right? Kinda like it's saying "why me?". And the plant itself seems so robust.

[Roberta]

I'm inclined to think that the hypothesis that it's just making more flowers than it needs (or can support) is reasonable. It will be interesting to see if the problem becomes less pronounced as the plant gets bigger (and theoretically can support a bigger bloom)

[DirtyCoconuts]

so here is my take....i was looking around the yard to see if i noticed any of the other plants i have that exhibit weird bloom cycles or something similar and i have one theory which is that this plant is simply very protective of itself...I based this on the way the Adenium will produce a ton of buds ( almost all the time) but even the slightest irritation and it will drop SOME...i know it is a way different situation but if there is a particularly warm breeze (or cool) that a normal plant would ignore, this plant is ready to bail.

do you have the ability to get another one? that'd be the best way to make a control

[Keysguy]

Maybe DC. I know where I got it from.
My theory was actually derived from watching my immature mango tree put up a zillion flowers, a lot of fruit and then continuously shed fruit as they matured until the quantity left could be sustained to full maturity.

[DirtyCoconuts]

just like my avocados too!!!