Bloom failing phalaeonopsis
 

Hi All,

I have a plant that has sent up a flower stalk and has several blooms that I can see are going to fail before they open. This is the second time this has happened for this plant. I have other plants that have re-bloomed several times without problems.

Help! I wasn't sure which category to post in. I'm not sure if maybe this could be because of a pest (but I don't see anything), or else maybe an issue with watering, or fertilizer. I haven't fertilized it in quite a while (same story for the other plants that have re-bloomed).

Does anyone have experience with this? Is there any way that I could save the blooms that are currently on the stalk?

Thanks,
Becky

A photo would be very helpful, so we could see the plant

Bloom failing phalaeonopsis
 

Sure, here are a few photos. Thanks!

Can you, please, post closer photos of the pot an medium?

It seems a bit dry.

Sure, I added a photo with the pot. The plant is mostly anchoring on some driftwood and then there is a bit of bark in the bottom of the plastic pot. The plastic pot is set into a glass vase and water there can create some humidity. I usually water generously every week - week and a half and then let them dry out. I have 3 other phals this size that this has been working for (and there have been several re-blooms). I read that maybe not enough water can prevent the blooms from opening so I've been trying to give it just a bit more water than I usually do. Photo shows after I watered it today.

Could be low humidity or some cold air draft.

Interesting! It's often right next to another plant that has also re-bloomed. In fact, they have re-bloomed together in the past, but this plant's blooms reached this same stage and failed. I wonder if this plant in particular is a bit more sensitive to cold and humidity levels.

Do you have any ideas?

Thanks for the input. I can try to work on the humidity and temp I keep them at!

Although the leaves look healthy, watering once a week for plants that are mostly not in medium seems pretty infrequent. Do the roots stay green for several days? If they are drying out in a day or two, I would say you need to water more frequently. That could help the blooms stay on also. Humidity is good but it is not really a substitute for watering, in my experience.


That said, a blast of cold air is the most frequent cause of bud blast that I know.

That's a good point. Part of the roots are more exposed, while part are in some bark towards the bottom of the pot. Maybe they are drying out too much.

This one has a different color scheme than the others that are re-blooming without any problem. Do you think there is any chance this could have something to do with it? It seems like a long shot but just throwing that out there.

The hybrid Phals can have different make ups in terms of ancestry. They don’t all have the same tolerances. All my Phals seem fairly tolerant of drafts: I tend to get the bud blast when the roots aren’t happy for some reason.

I agree that you may need to up the watering frequency on this one. Alternatively, you could try more substrate to keep things moister longer.

If you haven’t had it for at least a year and bought it in less than ideal condition it may also still be in the recovery process. I have a couple that I bought in rough shape, they blasted their buds during the first rebloom after a year in my care. The second year, same conditions / care regime, they bloomed fine: they just needed more recovery time.

Thanks, everyone! I may be in luck for some successful blooms. I've tried to make a few small changes based on all of the advice I've gotten through this thread (plus I've actually helped the petals to separate a bit using my fingernails, because they seemed to be stuck). After everything, it looks like at least one is working on opening. I'll send a picture if it does! Thanks so much.
-Becky

Here it is!! So happy. Thanks all!