Orchid Bulbs

Orchid Bulbs
My flower heads on my Peacock Orchids are shriveled up dead — Why?

I have grown Peacock Orchids many years and they have always been wonderful producers but this year they are all shriveled up dead. I have very very few that are healthy. The greenery seems just fine but the flowers while they have emerged are sickly or dead. The only thing I have done differenct this year is put most of them in pots so I would have an easy time this fall. These buldbs have to be stored in the basement in the winter. These bulbs came from Wal-mart where I have always had good luck before with these bulbs. Anyone else have dead peacocks??
Zone Five. Yes these are in the glads family. Not really Orchids.

Are these Acidanthera bicolor?

http://www.sd1new.net/GardenPages/peacock_orchid.htm

These are not orchids at all, they’re in the Gladiolus family. I’m not sure what area of the country you’re in, but drought is one of the better ways to zap flower buds before they get a chance… Putting them in pots will increase the water stress as opposed to being in the ground, but if they’ve been well watered, that shouldn’t make a difference. What zone are you? Brent & Becky’s nursery in zone 7b says that they overwinter there in the ground with a heavy mulch.