I have a cymbidium which I bought from a garden centre last year, so variety
unknown. When bought, it had a flower spike and after it had finished
flowering, I fed and watered it, a new pseudobulb developed and then
produced two new flower spikes. As this was the first time I had ever been
able to get a cymbidium to flower again, I watched them grow with keen
anticipation, but, to my disappointment, one of them turned yellow and the
buds dropped off, although they were well-developed by then. Now, it had
been rather cold so I reduced the watering/feeding to every 3 weeks, rather
than weekly, so I wondered if the plant couldn`t support two spikes and
"switched off" one? Or could there be another, more sinister, cause,
please? Incidentally, as soon as I cut the dying spike off, the healthy one
fairly galloped ahead and is now looking lovely.

Thanks
Kate

Congratulations on getting it to re-flower. It is an achievement! The usual reason for bud-drop is keeping it too warm.

Weng

I was hoping someone who knew more about Cyms than I do would answer you.
The vast majority of them are cool-growing, and my climate won't support
that, so I handle very few of them, and the warm-growing types don't behave
exactly like their cooler cousins anyway ...

But to avoid leaving you hanging altogether, I can say that the "turning
yellow and buds dropping" is something we call "bud blast" and it has so
many causes, it's very hard to narrow down. The possible causes include
over-watering, under-watering, rapid fluctuations in either temp or
humidity, insects (thrips), etc., etc. Since your second spike prospered,
my _guess_ would be that you had over-watered a bit, but corrected in time
to save that one. Your theory about the plant not being able to support 2
spikes may also have some validity, esp. if you have been skimpy on
fertilizing. FWIW, Kenni

"Kate" wrote in message
...
I have a cymbidium which I bought from a garden centre last year, so
variety
unknown. When bought, it had a flower spike and after it had finished
flowering, I fed and watered it, a new pseudobulb developed and then
produced two new flower spikes. As this was the first time I had ever
been
able to get a cymbidium to flower again, I watched them grow with keen
anticipation, but, to my disappointment, one of them turned yellow and the
buds dropped off, although they were well-developed by then. Now, it had
been rather cold so I reduced the watering/feeding to every 3 weeks,
rather
than weekly, so I wondered if the plant couldn`t support two spikes and
"switched off" one? Or could there be another, more sinister, cause,
please? Incidentally, as soon as I cut the dying spike off, the healthy
one
fairly galloped ahead and is now looking lovely.

Thanks
Kate

Thank you for the replies, Weng and Kenni.

As both spikes developed at the same time and grew at the same speed, but
only one died, it is hard for me to work out what went wrong - so many
possible reasons, it seems. However, I had been rotating the plant
regularly to maximise light all round, so perhaps the one that died was
towards the window glass during a period when the temperature dropped or
rose too rapidly. If the plant produces spikes next season, I think I shall
move it towards the centre of the conservatory where the temperature is
probably less likely to fluctuate so much.

Thanks again
Kate

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
. ..
I was hoping someone who knew more about Cyms than I do would answer you.
The vast majority of them are cool-growing, and my climate won't support
that, so I handle very few of them, and the warm-growing types don't behave
exactly like their cooler cousins anyway ...

But to avoid leaving you hanging altogether, I can say that the "turning
yellow and buds dropping" is something we call "bud blast" and it has so
many causes, it's very hard to narrow down. The possible causes include
over-watering, under-watering, rapid fluctuations in either temp or
humidity, insects (thrips), etc., etc. Since your second spike prospered,
my _guess_ would be that you had over-watered a bit, but corrected in time
to save that one. Your theory about the plant not being able to support 2
spikes may also have some validity, esp. if you have been skimpy on
fertilizing. FWIW, Kenni

"Kate" wrote in message
...
I have a cymbidium which I bought from a garden centre last year, so
variety
unknown. When bought, it had a flower spike and after it had finished
flowering, I fed and watered it, a new pseudobulb developed and then
produced two new flower spikes. As this was the first time I had ever
been
able to get a cymbidium to flower again, I watched them grow with keen
anticipation, but, to my disappointment, one of them turned yellow and
the
buds dropped off, although they were well-developed by then. Now, it had
been rather cold so I reduced the watering/feeding to every 3 weeks,
rather
than weekly, so I wondered if the plant couldn`t support two spikes and
"switched off" one? Or could there be another, more sinister, cause,
please? Incidentally, as soon as I cut the dying spike off, the healthy
one
fairly galloped ahead and is now looking lovely.

Thanks
Kate

On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:47:08 -0000, Kate wrote:
I had been rotating the plant
regularly to maximise light all round, so perhaps the one that died was
towards the window glass during a period when the temperature dropped or
rose too rapidly. If the plant produces spikes next season, I think I shall
move it towards the centre of the conservatory where the temperature is
probably less likely to fluctuate so much.

I think they get confused when you change their orentation too often.

Bob

Regrading the rotation of your orchid:
1. After flowering you should put the Cymbidium orchid plant in bright light.
2. To get the Cymbidium orchids to re-flower you must expose the orchid plant to temperatures below 10°Celsius or 55°Fahrenheit for three weeks with twelve hours or more of darkness nightly. Then raise temperature and give full sun.
These are to two rules that I generally follow with my Cymbidiums. Hope it will work for you.

Hi Kate & welcome, Not sure why one spike blasted either???
You have received good info from Kenni & Weng so here is a url that I
use.
http://www.orquideas.com/growing/cymbcult.html
Now I notice that you are in England so you might have to compensate. ie.
You get more rain so
your potting mix should be faster draining.(more larger bark in the mix)
Your best bet is to find someone that grows them in your area. (Contact
someone in a local orchid society)
There used to be a guy in our news group that grew them in
the north of Scotland???
Good luck & keep us posted,
Cheers Wendy

"Kate" wrote in message
...
I have a cymbidium which I bought from a garden centre last year, so
variety
unknown. When bought, it had a flower spike and after it had finished
flowering, I fed and watered it, a new pseudobulb developed and then
produced two new flower spikes. As this was the first time I had ever
been
able to get a cymbidium to flower again, I watched them grow with keen
anticipation, but, to my disappointment, one of them turned yellow and the
buds dropped off, although they were well-developed by then. Now, it had
been rather cold so I reduced the watering/feeding to every 3 weeks,
rather
than weekly, so I wondered if the plant couldn`t support two spikes and
"switched off" one? Or could there be another, more sinister, cause,
please? Incidentally, as soon as I cut the dying spike off, the healthy
one
fairly galloped ahead and is now looking lovely.

Thanks
Kate

I think they get confused when you change their orentation too often.

Bob

They get downright nasty!

Diana ;o)

Wendy : firstly, thanks for the welcome, although I have occasionally posted
before - usually when I have a problem, of course! Re your comment about us
having more rain in the UK, I do not put the orchids outside so they
wouldn`t get too much water from the elements, only if it is my fault. I
shall have a look at the link you gave, so thank you for that.

Bob : as an inexperienced orchid grower, I wasn`t sure if you were joking,
so thought I had better check to see if they *really* don`t like being
turned too often - or were you winding me up? (pun intended ;-) )

Kate

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
I think they get confused when you change their orentation too often.

Bob

They get downright nasty!

Diana ;o)

Kate, orchids really don't like being moved out of their micro climates. Not
sure if rotating would fall into that description, but it could.

Diana

"Kate" wrote in message
...
Wendy : firstly, thanks for the welcome, although I have occasionally
posted
before - usually when I have a problem, of course! Re your comment about
us
having more rain in the UK, I do not put the orchids outside so they
wouldn`t get too much water from the elements, only if it is my fault. I
shall have a look at the link you gave, so thank you for that.

Bob : as an inexperienced orchid grower, I wasn`t sure if you were
joking,
so thought I had better check to see if they *really* don`t like being
turned too often - or were you winding me up? (pun intended ;-) )

Kate

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
I think they get confused when you change their orentation too often.

Bob

They get downright nasty!

Diana ;o)

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 20:49:36 -0500, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:

Kate, orchids really don't like being moved out of their micro climates. Not
sure if rotating would fall into that description, but it could.

Diana

I have not seen blast blamed on rotation - but if you see an
inflorescence with flowers facing every which way rather than a gentle
cascade with one orientation, you can bet they moved after the flower
became photo sensitive (sensitive to light direction.) A lovely spike
of flowers which normally displays in a graceful manner can become so
twisted as each bloom tries to reorient than they become quite
uncomfortable to look at.

Best luck
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

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