Orchid Bud Blast:What to do When Orchid Buds Shrivel and Fall?

New orchid buds are a sign of congratulatory reward. You’ve taken care of your orchid for almost a year and a flower spike emerged. As a newly “expectant” orchid hobbyist, you anticipate with great joy the new orchid blossom with all its bright and exotic colors. It’s finally time to sit back and enjoy your hard work. orchid buds "Orchid 20/10/04" by Peter is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 New buds appear, and you’re even more overcome with joy. Not that orchids are a lot of work or high maintenance, but all the investment you’ve done in proper care is now going to pay off. From the blue, the first orchid bud turns yellow, shrivels up, dies, and falls off. Not only does it stop growing, but it just gives up on life—without any signals. No warning signs, no hints demanding changes, nothing… Then the second orchid bud wilts, dying without reason. In panic, you don’t know what to do. This is called bud blast. What causes bud blast in orchids? Bud blast in orchids occurs when abrupt changes in the environment are too harsh for the orchid to adjust to, so the orchid withdrawals the blossom growth to preserve energy. These changes can be in temperature, lighting, humidity, watering, surroundings, or even insects. To salvage the rest of the buds from blasting, you need to identify what the cause is and treat it soon. At this stage you can prevent the other orchid buds not blooming and just dying if you are quick to diagnose what the orchid is reacting to and fix it. Before you identify the problem, think back to how you were caring for your orchid. In those conditions, the orchid had enough nutrients to produce a flower spike. The lighting was sufficient to grow this spike enough to produce the first buds. The watering was adequate for other buds to develop.