Poor Cymbidium flower spikes

[Paul Hodkin]

Hi I've been growing orchids seriously for about 2 years now & live in South Africa . Early this winter , in the last 2 months quite a few of my Cymbidiums have produced what looked like healthy flower spikes . Just before the flowers opened however , the flowers turned a pale yellow colour & one by one fell off ? Only one of the plants has produced healthy flowers out of the 6 that produced flower spikes . Does anybody have any ideas why this may have happened ? The plants appear to all be in good health & have produced new leaves during the summer .

[flexdc]

This is what they called bud blasts in the trade. Were your orchids exposed to sudden heat or cold before the flowers opened? Also if you move the plant suddenly from outdoors to indoors before the buds are ready to flower, this can sometimes happen too. Better leave the plant in its growing area and wait till almost all of the flowers open before you move it to a different location.

[Paul Hodkin]

Thanks for the advice , we are having some very warm winter ays , up to about 25-26 & then the temperature drops to as low as -2 at night with frost , a few other people in our area have had the same problem , but others have had perfect flowers . I have left the plants in their growing enviroment , so don't think that moving them is an issue ?

[flexdc]

Paul:
That explains it! If your night time temp drop to below freezing your buds will definitely blast! Cyms like cool but not cold temps. They will survive temps below freezing for a few hours, but the buds will blast.
If you have any more plants spiking, I would advise you to move them indoors if night time temps is forecast to drop below freezing.

This phenomenon happens here in Southern California every 10 years or so. And I move my collection indoors for those few freezing nights.

Andrew

[Paul Hodkin]

Thanks so much , I think that you are right , I will move them indoors at night as you suggest , thanks for the advice !

[WhiteRabbit]

I've left Cyms with buds outdoors during overnight freezing temps, but, they were put on sheltered porch near the house.

[james mickelso]

Buds will also blast when it is cool and then you water. I always let my cyms stay a little dry once the flower buds develope. There is usually plenty of water stored in the pbulbs. In nature the cyms grow and store up starch in the rainy season and then in the dry season they flower because during the rainy season the pollinators are all worms and caterillars but when the dry comes, they pupate and become flying pollinators. Next time you have flower spikes, try leaving one plant unwatered or make sure you water in the morning so the plant has time to warm up and dry off (roots) before the sun sets and it gets cool or cold. I have a specis (noid) that bud blasted every year for years then an old guy told me not to water it once the buds started to swell. Hasn't blasted since then.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

I've left Cyms with buds outdoors during overnight freezing temps, but, they were put on sheltered porch near the house.

This way of handling frost temps is better than bringing them into the house in my opinion, as they will still be cool but above freezing. By bringing them into the house, you will cause them to actually have a night temp ABOVE the day time temps. Very confusing to the plants and that can also cause bud drop.

Another way of protecting your plants from 2-4 degrees of frost is to use a product the strawberry growers in California use to protect their young plantlets called Row Cover. It is a very lightweight thermal type of material which can be thrown over a plant and can remain all winter if you wish. Just be sure it is above the spikes. I use additional tall bamboo stakes in the plants to keep it high but still allow it to fall all the way to the ground.

Cym Ladye