Question
I have three and two have developed brown, raised spots al over the leaves above and uinderneath.  I removed them and now they are getting sticky and the raised brown spots are coming back  I now understand physan will work for this but unfortunately is is not allowed in Canada.  Any other suggestions?

Answer
Hello Mary el,

From your description of the problem, I'm afraid it might be due to a bacterial infection - although I hope it is not!  But if it is, I'm afraid your phalaenopsis is destined for the trash bin.  When you cut off the infected leaf areas, were there dark spots visible in the cut?  If so, that would indicate that the infection was spreading deeper into the phalaenopsis plant.  Also, when you cut the affected leafs, did you continue to use the same cutter?  If so, I'm afraid the bacterial infection could be spread to healthier leaf tissue due to the infected leaf sap still being on the cutter and transfered to healthy leafs.  

When cutting off suspect leafs, it is always best to sterilize the cutter inbetween cuts to eliminate the possible transfer of the infection when making additional cuts.  Sterilizing the cutter can take some time, for this reason I keep industrial grade single-edged razor blades handy, making one cut then throwing them away and use a new blade for the next cut.  These industrial grade blades are available in most paint and hardware stores and are relatively cheap in comparison to the cost of the orchid plant.  

Also, when cutting off infected leaf areas, always remove enough of the leaf until there is no visible evidence of the infection (dark spots) within the cut.  Even a tiny spot means the infection is making its way down into healthy leaf tissue.  

Sorry for the bad news but hope this helps in the future if you see this happen again.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.