| Q My mother owns a flower store in Stockholm, Sweden. She has successfully kept and
sold phalaenopsis up until about a month ago. Suddenly, many of the buds, but not all,
started to dry up. They become dry and slightly shriveled to the touch and take on a
slightly yellowish color. Could this be the result of some sort of disease or maybe
environmental factors such as dry air, cold, etc? A I would suspect either air pollution in the form of ethylene gas, either from smog, or from an improperly adjusted or vented gas heater; or simply the overactive functioning of your heater as the season changes. Excessive dryness can cause the symptoms you describe, but if the plants are looking a little yellow, too, it is probably air pollution. — Ned Nash. |
Reprinted, with permission, from "Orchids" - The Magazine of the American Orchid Society, Dec. 2000.