What do you do when your orchid's flowers buds dry up and fall off before flowering?

hmmm I'd say a couple possibilities here...





In my opinion the most likely problem is over watering or inappropriate drainage. Make sure that the water doesn't sit in the plant (ie there is a dish under the plant that wont let the excess water escape, or it is a pot with no drainage whole in it at all *cringe*)





This would be the case if they had a slightly yellow tinge to them especially, or if they got really soft and then fell off. Wilted and or mushy and then fall off=over watering.





2nd Possibility, Under watering or over exposure to light.





An orchid should be watered every 4-7 days dependant on your house. If you leave it for too long (not that I'd ever do that) sometimes even once, the blooms may dry and fall off.





Over Exposure to Light: If the blooms are really crispy and you are watering them as specified then you may want to look to the light exposure of their home, Do they get intense afternoon sun, all day sun, or direct sun (ie you have them in a window sill, a window sill that gets a lot of light is a bad place often for an orchid because they cannot handle direct light also the window sill acts as a greenhouse and won't let the heat escape, when this occurs it can cause the orchis to get a little crispy) another sign of to much light is if the edges of the leaves are brown and crispy. (while brown and floppy often indicate over watering/that the plant is too cold/or that it has a virus, or any combo of those)





Last option, the plant could just be sick. Sometimes, especially with orchids, you move them from the store to home and they just freak out, its not that common, but on the other hand its nothing unheard of. If you took it home and did all the things above, it could just be that it didn't like being moved, or was an unhealthy plant, you may want to take it back to the store, they will often replace it for you even if it was your fault, as well as give you some tips about how to care for it in order to foster customer loyalty.





Good Luck ;)

What do you do when your orchid's flowers buds dry up and fall off before flowering?
are you keeping the potting medium moist but not wet also feeding with 1/2 strength orchid food every watering