I have this premature browning of every flower on my Lebaudyanum. One of the flowers isn't even open yet. Can anyone tell me what might be causing this?

Thanks!!

I have this premature browning of every flower on my Lebaudyanum. One of the flowers isn't even open yet. Can anyone tell me what might be causing this?

Thanks!!

The technical term for it is 'phragophobia'. Your paphs are scared of the phrags... Only way to cure it is to box up all your phrags and send them to me.

Other than that, I don't know... Could be genetic, I've seen some philippinense do similar things.

I don't think it is genetic because my Lebaudyanum came from Heather's plant and all the 4 flowers came out perfect. Heather, it could be your conditions. Are the plants staying too wet? Did you spray the flowers with water and have very little air movement? I'm just guessing here. :confused:

Well, it definitely isn't air movement, at least lack thereof, they are right near the open window and fans are just above, in fact, I had to re-angle the closest fan so that it didn't blow directly on the flowers. I was thinking maybe too much air was the problem.

I don't think it is staying too wet. I do occasionally mist the plants in the morning.

Oh, and Rob? nice try!

Well, it does sound like direct air movement on the flowers is the cause. Move the plant away from any direct air from the fan and see what happens.

What surprised me though was seeing it on the bud that's just opened. Made me think it could be something else. Oh well.

Mealy bugs? Eating the flower?

No way, no mealies!
Just double checked to be absolutely sure.

Maybe it got a cold draft one night

sounds like botrytis to me!

sounds like botrytis to me!

Yeah, okay, I found some info. Me too!
Will address.
Though frankly, these buds have had PLENTY of airflow, I don't see how anything could "condense" on them but maybe.... I started misting more when I got the randsii and the Mexipedium. Which frankly, coincides. Will be more careful. Thanks Peter!

Angry slipper gnomes, definitely.

Either that or perhaps pg's idea of cold damage, especially if it's right next to a window.

--Stephen

In my defense -
I've been very very carefull about the windows, we're at the point of the year *happy Soltice BTW* that I close them in the evenings, generally.

Point well taken though!!

Could it be (hehe) ammonia as your SO implied and you stated in another thread? :evil:

Sounds like one of the signs of "bud blast", which is kind of a catch all for aborted blooming attempt. Bud blast is one of the paph mysteries. Lots of theories, but no consistent reasons.

I tend to see more blast in out of season bloomings, and young plants. I don't know what the parents are in your hybrid, and hybrids are less likely to have a "season".

I would do a root check to see if there is some hidden stress going on.

Sounds like one of the signs of "bud blast", which is kind of a catch all for aborted blooming attempt. Bud blast is one of the paph mysteries. Lots of theories, but no consistent reasons.

I tend to see more blast in out of season bloomings, and young plants. I don't know what the parents are in your hybrid, and hybrids are less likely to have a "season".

I would do a root check to see if there is some hidden stress going on.

Hey Rick, thanks! Nice to see you around again...

Roots look great - I can see 'em growing all over the place.
And all three of the buds fully opened. So, would that still be considered blasting? I'll take a picture in a few minutes. Parents are philippinense var. roebelinii x haynaldianum.
Mine's blooming about a month behind Pete's, and he's got the other half of this exact plant, which arrived in bloom last year on 9/27/04. Seems like we're in the right season.
:confused:

Stay tuned for pics.

My philippinense some times gets some early browning on the dorsal sepals after really hot sunny days. The haynaldianum in the backround could make the plant a bit more heat and light sensitive than the philippinense parent.

Well, I couldn't get a great photo this morning, maybe you can see if you look closely. Someone else had said it was relatively common with phils. so I wondered if perhaps it maybe was genetics.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/leb92405.jpg

My phil and roebs have never done that and my Lebaud from the same plant as yours hasn't done it either, so I don't think it's genetics. But whatever it is, keep us posted!