Lighting question

[sand_tiger86]

I bought a diacatt. a while back that had three buds...all about a day apart in opening (one each day). They DID all open, so my question is, does this mean it's getting adequate light? Or do buds a plant already has open anyway? I've heard that they blast when cultural needs aren't met...

[wetfeet101b]

It depends on how far along the buds were when you got it.
When the buds have already reached maturity, then they will most likely open - good light or not.
The time when the flowers suck up the most nutrients from the plants is when it is still developing. When the flower opens it still feeds off of the plant but just enough to maintain its vigor.
And when the flower does get pollinated, it starts drawing nutrients from the plant again as it builds up its seed pod. But that rarely happens in a hobbyist's plant.

Most bud blasts happen when the buds have not yet reached a certain stage of maturity. If the plant experiences a drastic change in conditions, it goes into survival mode and drops the buds in order to divert the energy into keeping itself alive.