What's eating my stanhopea tigrina?

Stanhopea tigrina produces downward-growing flower spikes and is always grown in basket culture — making the open basket base a common entry point for slugs and snails. Mealybugs and scale colonize pseudobulbs and leaf sheaths. Check the basket interior regularly, as the open base lets pests enter unseen.

Holes and slime trails on emerging flower spikes and new growths; flower buds may be destroyed before opening Inspect the basket interior at night; hand-pick; apply ferric phosphate pellets around the bench; use copper tape on hanging wires

White cottony clusters inside pseudobulb sheaths and at the base of leaves; honeydew and stunted growth Dab with 70% isopropyl alcohol; spray neem oil or insecticidal soap thoroughly into sheath bases; repeat every 5–7 days

Hard brown bumps on pseudobulbs and leaf undersides; yellowing foliage and sooty mold on honeydew deposits Remove manually with alcohol and a soft brush; apply horticultural oil spray; check and repeat every 3–4 weeks