Greg,
Tiny sucking bugs like thrip have done something similar to some of my plants. I had an infestation so bad on a celadine last spring that I could not stand near it without those things attacking me. The inflos did the same thing you are talking about.

I first used neem but could not routinely re-apply due to work schedules so I hit it with a product containing some big chemical (imadacloprid or something like that) which killed them. But the side effect was a massive spider mite infestation on the tree a few weeks later which pretty well destroyed the rest of the blooms and lots of foliage.

K,

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's a real downer--in photographs I've seen, Haleakala looks absolutely stunning, so when I saw this inflo coming, and saw how large it was getting (like a foot long now, no kidding), I was stoked...and then this happened. WA-wa.

I have been noticing misshapen leaves, which I know is a telltale sign of thrips. For that matter, I can see them--just about everything I grow has them--I've just not had the kind that attack the flowering parts. I wonder why the Safari has had no effect? Perhaps their life cycle is too short for it to do much of anything to them--just a guess...

I have read that about imidacloprid and spider mites as well--even that it makes spider mites more fertile. Creepy, eh? So, in the end, it's six and one-half dozen the other? Which is preferable?

Greg

I say keep using the neem oil. I think it reduces the population to levels the plant can naturally manage.