Frightened about Viruses on my Cattleyas

[DavidGalli]

Hi again!

I'm a bit scared to buy or have an infected plant.. the one pictured has perfect leaves, pseudobulbs/roots seem healthy and I think this pattern on the flowers is just that it's about to fall (when I bought they looked normal). Or am I wrong?

Probably an overreaction on my part.

[Ray]

Could be insect damage (thrips) while still closed buds.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Ray

Could be insect damage (thrips) while still closed buds.

Ya, looks like mechanical damage of some type. Insect or other.

[Clawhammer]

Looks like thrip damage to me too.

[Leafmite]

I agree. Color break in Cattleyas from virus leaves no doubt....

[Roberta]

That drying along the edges of the flowers is a dead giveway. Thrips. Did I mention that I hate thrips as much as I hate scale???? Maybe even more... scale can be controlled with systemics, thrips come in and wreck the flowers, nearly impossible to prevent, you have to be in there with spray when you see them.