Death of unopened flowers in cattleyas

[AnonYMouse]

I'm confused. You're telling us that the two flowers are from the same plant? Are you sure it's not two plants in the same pot? Because each flower looks normal if we were discussing different plants. If they are from a single plant, surely not from the same pseudobulb. Label the pseudobulbs and see if it happens again next blooming season. Keep a record, take close-up photos of flower details and the plant.

And what do you mean by "pod"? Pot? Pseudobulb? Sheath? "Pod" usually refers to a seed capsule.

I think we are discussing two different problems. The first being flowers aborting and the second is different looking blooms on what seems to be one plant (the normal flower looks different between the two pics, too.) Are the pictures on the first page of the same flowers as on the second page?

Back to the original problem. After the buds drop, have you looked for pests?