Brassia spike problem

[Helen]

Last week I had a nice new green spike coming up on my Brassia (I peeked inside the leaf) and today when I peeked inside to see how it was doing, it was brown and looked like it dried out. I've been watering every 4-5 days as req'd due to the extreme heat/humidity. It's been upwards of 90 even with AC and fans running. Could this have been why it aborted?
I have been waiting two years for this spike, and this happens, I am not a happy grower today!
Has this ever happened to anyone else? What do you think caused this problem?
Thx
Helen

[quiltergal]

Helen, when it's 90 out I sometimes water every other day depending on what it's potted in. I also have found that the Onc. alliance plants really suck the water up when they're forming spikes and flower buds. You really have to stay on top of them at that stage. The only other thing I can think of besides not enough water is some water got down inside that leaf and rotted the spike.

[Helen]

I guess I'm still learning, the hard way! I check my water stick every other day and that's why this has surprised me...the pbulbs are plump. It is such a disappointment! It's my favourite.

Thanks for your input. I thought perhaps it had to be that it needed more water.

Do you know if they will bloom on an old pbulb that has not bloomed yet from a previous year? Or might it try to bloom from the other side?

Thx again
Helen

[dounoharm]

it might send out a spike from the other side of the psuedobulb....gl

[WhiteRabbit]

it's 90 with a/c?
I suspect in your location it's also humid - tho if indoors with a/c and fans, may be drier ...
While summer this year on the west coast has been cool - normally temps will be mid 80s - mid 90s, with periods of higher temps - tho where I live the temp does drop significantly at night. So while I haven't had issue with heat affecting spikes, it's possible the cooler temps at night may be why ...
Is your plant maybe in a draft - is the a/c blowing on it?
During typical summers, I do water Oncidium alliance pretty often. Tho it's also quite dry here during typical summers ...

Dang - I feel for you I hope you get another spike soon!

[Helen]

Yes, 90, a lot of my orchids are on a multi-tier plant stand covered with plastic (I recently removed the plastic so more air could circulate...dumb me...didn't think about it - certainly didn't need even more humidity!) And on a 2nd floor of a 1 1/2 storey home, AC does not work as well as first floor. We're having a very hot summer here in Canada....105 F with the humidex...unbelievable! Going on 6 weeks now! No A/C is blowing on it at all, it was well protected within the plastic cover.

But my Brassia has great new green tip roots, the lastest pbulb is taller than the rest, so it seemed like it was getting enough water. Obviously not enough though...at least I think the new spike is dying off, because it probably should be green and not brown, it's not mushy or anything. Should it be green?

The spike is NOT visible and is tightly hidden down into the base of the leaf. I only knew it was there because of a little bump and I investigated. It was even hard to get the leaf opened up to have a look inside.