Question
I have my first two Phalaenopsis orchids that face the East/South East, both are on a humidity tray and my house temp. during the day is between 69 and 70 and 68 to 69 at night. I mist the leaves regularly and water about once a week. I use a Momet sensor to help regulate the watering. One has a new spike and seems to be doing great. My second plant is beginning to bloom. The first bloom is large and the second and third are smaller in size with others to yet open. I just found a strange spot on the bottom leaf. It is about the size of an eraser head,indented with small ridges and is paler green with an almost yellow cast, the spots' outer edge is darker green while on the inside there seems to be smaller round spots. So far it hasn't shown up on the other leaves. Is this a virus or pest? What do I do? Your help is appreciated.

Answer
Hello Cherrie',

While I cannot be sure without actually seeing it, from your description of the spot it sounds like it may be a bacterial infection.  Keep an eye on it to see if it grows larger or appears on other leaves.  If it starts to grow larger, cut off the leaf and discard it.  If it appears on another leaf, cut it off also but do not use the same cutter you used for the first cut.  In some cases, it is possible to spread an infection or disease via the sap on the cutting blade.  

I hope it doesn't grow larger or spread to other leafs.  

Normally, flowers will all be about the same size after a few days of opening.  If they are not, this could be an indication of some possible problem with the roots.  Are the leaves all nice a firm?  If they are limp, that would be another indication of a root problem.  Since they are in bloom, I would wait to do any checking of roots unless the phalaenopsis plants have major health issues.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.