Bumps/wrinkles on the Phal flowers

[Oleander]

Greetings to all orchid lovers!

I can't identify what's wrong with my new orchid and would appreciate an advice.

Recently I've received this Phal (photos attached), which has a problem with its flowers: they are covered with some tiny bumps and wrinkles all over the petals, they are slightly rough, deformed and can't fully open.
As a bonus, it came with a variety of pests in its medium (some yellow mites and more). No signs of damage on the leaves though.
The pests were successfully eliminated with pesticides.
Recently this phal decided to continue growing the existing flower spike. The new buds appearing on it are already showing the signs of bump/wrinkles too!

I have a few more phals which bloom now, and their buds and petals are perfectly fine (meaning, its not temperature/wind/sun or other environmental conditions in the house).

Virus? Dyed orchid? Mutation? Consequences of pests?

Has anybody experienced anything similar?

[Roberta]

My first guess is that the problem originated with the pests - even with the new flowers, this could still be a reaction to the infestation It's also possible that it's genetic, but you really can't make that assessment until the plant has gone through a complete cycle and developed a new spike without the pests around. The problems with the flowers aren't characteristic of virus and the flowers don't look dyed.

I'd suggest a repot with fresh medium, either now or after the bloom has finished. (Phals are quite OK with being repotted while in bloom) Given that unless you applied the pesticide repeatedly (over several weeks) and even if you have, it's very likely that there are eggs still in the medium. So if you take the plant out of the pot, wash the roots well, and put in fresh medium, you also improve the odds that it won't come back.

The fact that newly formed buds still show the problem, you might be better off waiting until the bloom is finished, and then remove the spike when you repot, in case the flowers are harboring the pest.

After repot, just continue normal care and hope that the next bloom is normal.

[Ray]

If you look at the blossoms of so-called “harlequin” phals with very dark patches, they will sometimes show such texture, so I assume it must be genetic in origin.

[Dimples]

My dark purple and white harlequin phal has a rough texture on the purple areas, most noticeable on the back side. The dark purple areas are also noticeably thicker than the white areas, so maybe that’s impeding the full opening of yours since it’s the dominant color. I’ve seen some very dark purple phals like yours online and often the flowers do look a little more cupped than the traditional flat appearance.