On Tue, 01 Apr 2003 23:02:37 -0500, Prem Subrahmanyam
wrote:

Brian Vogel wrote:
Now it is beginning to have what I thought would
be blooms "unstick/peel" away from the stalk. The problem
is that the bottom 4 have simply dried up within a day or
two of separating out from the stalk.

Is this normal or a sign of some serious trouble?
The plant itself seems very happy and the upper end of
the spike, which looks to contain 6 or 7 more buds, is
still green, covered in sticky "dew", and happy as well.


well, the "dew" is not a problem, but the bud blasting is
suspect. It sounds a lot like thrips (or some other
insect/arthropod) damage to me.

---Prem
www.premdesign.com

The bud blast can also happen if that honeydew is too sticky. The
humidity, or rain, on the plant should naturally reduce the
amount of honey dew on the flowers. Sometimes with window sill
or under light conditions it does not get rinsed off. Try to make
it a point to mist the dew if you mist the plants and when you
water.

If this is your problem - the buds are probably blasted before
they get free of the 'spike'. Take a close look at those not yet
blasted and the last one to go. Can you tell if it is before or
after it was freed from the spike?

Good Luck

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php