sticky gellike dropletlets on the new stems and buds

[nunu]

Hello all,
This is my first entry so I am a bit nervous I am growing orchids for a while now. Although I had some health issues in the past all were turf related. However last month one of my darlings had a new bud which grew out to be a stem. At the middle of the month it stopped growing and sticky gellike droplets appeared all over it. After a while the droplets grew bigger and in the end the stem got mushy and is all rotten now. I do not know what happened. I had 2 more pots in the same window sill and I water them at the same time. The others do not seem to be affected. Would you help me to solve the mystery?
Thanks so much in advance..

[Zoi2]

Hello and welcome to the OB.
Usually the sticky substance is "happy sap". In your case could it have been caused by pests? It should not have turned anything to mush.
If you can post a picture, we can get a better idea of the problem.
Joann

[RobS]

Were the droplets clear or yellow / brownisch. Clear drops are normally sugar sap which are harmless and a sign of strong growth. Colloured droplets can be a sign of bacterial or fungal infection.

[nunu]

Thanks for the answer. Unfortunately I do not have any pics, and the bud is whithered now. The leaves seem to be ok and green however one new leaf that just started to grow a month ago has stopped growing. I think the reason why may be the lack of humidty as the heaters are on.. I never saw something like that before what is the reason of the sticky gel like substance appearing on the stems?

[nunu]

Originally Posted by RobS

Were the droplets clear or yellow / brownisch. Clear drops are normally sugar sap which are harmless and a sign of strong growth. Colloured droplets can be a sign of bacterial or fungal infection.

the drops were clear like water drops. after a while their size got bigger. After I saw the mush texture of the new stem I felt like they were the core of th plant oozing from inside..

[CTB]

Welcome to the Board, Guess you'll have to take a pic if it happen again. Most problems we like a pic before deciding for sure what the problem is. Most sticky substances are good. If yours wasn't happy sap then I would think it was bug related.

[tucker85]

The droplets may not be related to the problem with the buds. I get clear drops of liquid from buds on healthy plants when they bloom. Whenever I have buds fail to develop they usually turn yellow. I'm not sure what would cause a mushy bud. Good luck.

[orchidsamore]

I would think the bud drop was the result of cooler temperatures near the window.

A certain percentage of our commercial plants will die like this without any direct cause. For us it is only money and excess inventory anyway. For you it is your only one - sorry.

The sap as mentioned is normally harmless. Outside you would also see a colony of sugar ants harvesting the sap - also harmless.