Blooming issue :(((
 

Hello. For few years now I have 5 simple phalaenopsis orchid plants. They grow really nicely, look very healthy etc. They all frequently sprout flower stems but every time, with every single one of them, when flower buds come to size of approximately very small pea, buds turn yellow and fall off...it doesn't happen at once, smaller buds on the stem remain green and keep growing till that certain size when they eventually turn yellow, one by one...So far I was unsuccessful in finding any answer why this is happening. If anyone have na idea and can help, I will be extremely grateful :)

Cheers!

Usually when that happens there's a low humidity issue.

Agreed. Dropping "pea" sized is usually a humidity problem. Or too cold. Or moving from one place to another at the wrong time during spike/flowering.

Any of those sound like they might fit?

Wow. That sounds very frustrating. I agree it could be a humidity issue, or temps in general. What do you have them potted in? And what are watering them with? That's a lot of bud blasting...

Is your home heated with gas, by any chance? Burners that have not been maintained or cleaned can result in incomplete combustion, releasing ethylene gas into the living space, and that is toxic to plants and can "blast" buds readily.

Ripening fruit can release ethylene, as well.

When I first read your problem, I started thinking what Ray just said (I think the gas may be methane though).

Humidity could also be an issue. Try growing your Phalaenopsis pots mingled with pots of plants with many leaves, especially high water demand plants (like Spathiphyllum). By grouping plants this way, my indoor relative humidity is typically 50 to 60%.

I can't keep my humidity up past 35 most days lately, and I only lost the tiny end buds on one. It's now in full bloom along with a dozen others. Do you give them circulating air and bottom heat?

Hi...thanks everybody for your lovely replies....just wanted to update you on this issue, shortly after I posted my problem here, suddenly my orchids not only stopped dropping buds but started to bloom quite nicely, without anything changed, not in environment nor in a way how I take care of them. But what makes this whole thing even stranger is that some time ago one of the orchids decided to have a keiki, all by herself, without me doing anything to encourage it... :)

It's better to be lucky than good.