Help Me I Am Clueless!!!!!

[meggysue14]

ok here is my question, i have a den orchid that i bought from boxstore last year and was doing AWESOME until just like a month ago! i noticed that it started to lose one bud then two and just this weekend all the buds fell off and now the stem is turning brown, but there is new growth (leaves) coming up! this is my first orchid and i am not sure if that is what is supposed to happen or if that is bad!! HELP ME!! it looks really healthy other then the stem turning colors! it is a ceramic pot with the orchid mulch out in my sunroom in florida and gets plenty of sun but of course not to much! i check the leaves like every other day to make sure that it isn't to cold and it only gets watered about 1 a week if that!! help me i need help, i don't want it to die!!!!

[Gin]

Hi , Here are some of the things that can cause bud blast . Extreme temperature shift , fruit ripening or over ripe near the plant ,( methane gas ). Bug pests on the plant . The thing that concerns me is the ceremic pot ,is it one of the slick glazed pots or a red clay type ?Cerimic glazed pots don't let air to the roots a plant stays wet for to long in one of them . Did you check to see if it has a hole in the bottom ? Dends. like to dry before being watered again . I am sure others can add to this , Sorry about your bud problem .I have had that happen and never found out why . Gin

[TundraKev]

I agree with Gin on all she mentioned. Just another thought - Is it in an air conditioned room? Could cooled air be blowing on it or near it? That could also make buds blast.

[LJA]

Not *enough* water during bud development can also cause bud blast. Dendrobiums can be tricky--as Gin said, they like drying off between waterings, but it's a really fine line between drying *off* and drying *out.* You've got new growth coming up so the plant sounds healthy enough--and sometimes, with Dends especially I've noticed, buds will blast for absolutely no good reason at all.