Buds showing..But.. We have a Problem

[Cym Ladye]

When a plant is in stress and so desperately in need of re-potting, as yours is, it will often send out a short stunted spike in desperation. Orchids will do anything possible to survive, and blooming with the hope of pollination and hence "survival" is not uncommon if the bulbs are lacking proper roots and hence proper nutrition. All the shriveled bulbs are an indication of the poor health of this plant.

If all you want to do is see what the flower looks like, by all means, leave the spike alone, take James's advice to elevate it on a pot, and save my staking advice for another plant on another day.

CL

[chidlove]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

When a plant is in stress and so desperately in need of re-potting, as yours is, it will often send out a short stunted spike in desperation. Orchids will do anything possible to survive, and blooming with the hope of pollination and hence "survival" is not uncommon if the bulbs are lacking proper roots and hence proper nutrition. All the shriveled bulbs are an indication of the poor health of this plant.

If all you want to do is see what the flower looks like, by all means, leave the spike alone, take James's advice to elevate it on a pot, and save my staking advice for another plant on another day.

CL

Shucks...if this is a horribly unhealthy plant [without me being rude , I wonder why it has three new growths as well as a spike that is now a foot long I am going to give it a repot.... like I mentioned, and I really thank you for your advice

As for seeing the flowers... I bought this plant in bloom 3 years ago, so know what they look like.
Can I ask what type of fert I should use on this cymb.{of course after it has flowered and been repotted ]
I love this board, and don't want to misunderstand advice! Any way, here are some updates to the plant, and my Lovely Gardenia, just covered in flower buds. Its the best its ever done





Forgot to mention, it has 12 flower buds

[Cym Ladye]

You should be fertilizing all year long for Cyms., just a more dilute solution during the cold months. Although there are numerous products on the market, I recommend the MSU formula (Michigan State University). I know that it can be ordered from First Ray's Orchids (Ray) who often participates on this forum. Just do a little searching for his information. As with all fertilizers, use a dilute solution weekly, or as we like to say "weakly/weekly". Some flush with straight water after the third or fourth fertilizing.

Even though you have new growths and a spike, the shriveling of the green bulbs is a sign of severe stress. One sign of a deteriorating plant is if the most recently matured green bulbs are smaller than the previous ones. The mature bulbs always should be larger than the year before to a point of optimum size for the cross.

I suspect you will find when you get into the plant that there will be a lot of old rotten roots off the leafless BBs causing the media to remain too moist. After three years under your care and who knows how long in the same pot before you got it, it is definitely time to repot after it is through blooming this year and when the weather starts to warm up.

Good Luck,

CL