Hole stippled inflorescence ?:~>;

[Jrabi]

Can anyone ID what is going on with this specimen?

It has been 4 yrs since i got the plant and i have not seen a single bloom.

Finally it has flowers and, as you can see, it is swiss cheese...

what happened?

[estación seca]

Bugs or lizards are eating it.

[Roberta]

Caterpillars do that... slugs do too. For caterpillars, a formulation containing BT bacillus thuringiensis .. if it's still there, if you can find the culprit, the pleasure of smooshing it compensates only a little for pain of what it did to that flower.

[Selmo]

Looks like a couple of things going on. The round holes in the middle back look like slugs or snails. Slugs and snails make holes in the leaves and flowers. And caterpillars and grasshoppers chew on the edges of the leaves and flowers
The deformed lip on the right flower and color blemishes on the petals, looks like thrips.
No one cure for both. If it is thrips it will be harder to get rid of than the snails, as it will take a few applications and they can hide well. Unless you have those tiny bush snails, then both are hard to get rid of. Good luck , and I hope this helped

[Jrabi]

Excellent and all very helpful.

Thanks!

I <3 orchid board!

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 PM ----------

I have had to deal with thrips before

I use Orthene because it works and that is all i know. (not my preferred treatment)

Any other tips for thrips?

[estación seca]

Thrips are all over Florida. Some people use a can of aerosol bug spray for plants and only spray developing flower stalks. Spray early in development, then after every rain.

[DeaC]

A gal in FL. has a YouTube channel and many of her plants are tree mounted or hanging in other areas. Says she's also had success with Orthene, done regularly. But it must have negative effects on wildlife,fliers or ground dwellers alike. Love my orchids and envy those who can put them outside but I'd worry about chemicals such as this.