Thrips? Mites?

[swamprad]

I’ve got a problem in my greenhouse.

This is a small growing grammatophyllum. The leaves look awful and have this sticky stuff on them too. Top and bottom of leaf is shown.

Next are some suspicious looking areas on a Cattleya and and Epi flower.



Next are some suspicious areas on some flowers. And some sunken spots on Dendrobiums leaves. That is not scale.

Have I got thrips? Mites? Haven’t dealt with this before.

 

[big923cattleya]

Whatever you decide to do, do not treat Dendrobiums with anything containing sulfur. It could kill them.
Yes, on the red Reed stem Epidendrum flowers, I am 99% sure that the damage is from thrips. They are famous for sucking the life out of buds and flowers. I have had them make the buds go brown practically overnight on Vanda, Cattleya and other orchids. Good one day, crispy and brown the next.
Mites, false spider mites and just plain old mites, are hard to see. They thrive with exploding population numbers in low humidity levels. You will need a ‘miticide’ to take care of those. Just follow directions on the label.

 

[Morja]

Insecticidal soaps often say they kill both thrips and mites on contact (check the bottle), so it may be worth treating your collection frequently (1-2x a week) with that for several weeks. Thrips are really a pain, because they lay their eggs in plant tissue and will keep coming back until you get all of them as they hatch, since most things only kill them on contact (and even those things should be rotated since they tend to build up resistance). One of the users here finally got a heavy duty thrips-specific systemic insecticide that she will get a packet of to whoever may need it (if she still has some!) and it takes one or two doses to kill them off.
As far as being sure of which it is, I'm not horribly experienced but just had some thrips myself and your issues definitely look suspicious. The dimples on the underside of some of the leaves make me think of mites too, with my untrained eye, though I suppose it could all be thrips. Can you inspect with a magnifying glass? Those flowers should have some thrips in the crevices if they're there.
Ever tested for viruses? Some of that damage looks suspicious too... I hope others with more experience weigh in

 

[big923cattleya]

In my opinion, thrips do not attack leaves. Why? I don’t believe that they possess heavy duty mouthparts which would enable them to pierce firmer tissue and feed. Maybe they can cause damage to younger leaves on things like Oncidiums, jewel orchids but not a most Vanda or Cattleya leaves.
I think that’s why most of the damage I have seen occurs on softer flowers and buds. Those things are actively growing and softer.

 

[Happypaphy7]

The very first two photos showing white marks on the leaves and the photos of the flowers show typical damage by thrips.

 

[gonewild]

In my opinion, thrips do not attack leaves. Why? I don’t believe that they possess heavy duty mouthparts which would enable them to pierce firmer tissue and feed. Maybe they can cause damage to younger leaves on things like Oncidiums, jewel orchids but not a most Vanda or Cattleya leaves.
I think that’s why most of the damage I have seen occurs on softer flowers and buds. Those things are actively growing and softer.

Thrips definitely feed on and damage orchid leaves. Probably more damage is done by immature and larval stages than adults. But adults do more visible damage to flowers.
You're lucky if you have never encountered a thrip infestation on leaves.

 

[Djthomp28]

Given the damage to the flower and the leaves, I would also vote for thrips. We do not see a lot of pictures of thrip damage to the leaves, but they can absolutely cause leaf issues. I did not realize that they attacked leaves until I start seeing damage on my Phrag leaves as they were growing out. At the time, I was not getting any floral damage. Eventually flowers started having issues - mostly bud blast . Using those yellow sticky traps helped me to identify the thrips because I was not seeing them. However, I saw them on the sticky traps. They were small and light colored, not at all what I was expecting. So I had to learn about the different stages and colors of thrips. They are sneaky little buggers.

Treating for thrips and mites would not be a bad idea.

 

[southernbelle]

opinion, thrips do not attack leaves. Why? I don’t believe that they possess heavy duty mouthparts which would enable them to pierce firmer tissue and feed. Maybe they can cause damage to younger leaves on things like Oncidiums, jewel orchids but not a most Vanda or Cattleya leaves.
I think that’s why most of the damage I have seen occurs on softer flowers and buds. Those things are actively growing and softer.

I have had thrip damage on cattleya leaves but only younger leaves right as the sheath was growing, so tender leaves. Here is a photo of the damage. I’ve never seen pitting like the photos of swamprad. And enlarging the photo of the flower I don’t see the crepe paper like dessicated edges that are classic, with thrip damage but I am the user who has the Overture which is specific for eradicating (not suppressing thrips and it does work! I’m pretty sure I still have a packet, $20 my cost if you are interested.