Cattleya, gold spots - virus or fungus?

[gdupont]

Hi,

I just got this Cattleya mossiae alba in the mail. The leaves had a lot of hard water residue on them, so I cleaned it off with some lemon water. I noticed these tiny circular golden spots on the oldest leaf. Does this look like a fungus or a virus? I don't think it looks like either of the two most prominent Cattleya viruses.

[Ray]

Past insect damage, perhaps?

[gdupont]

Could be. I noticed some similar spots on the newer leaves, but not nearly as many. I actually thought it was dirt at first -- wondering if it could be chemical burn from fertizilizer in dirt particles in a greenhouse that settled on the plant? I don't really care what it is if its not viral/fungal. Just looking for confirmation!

[rbarata]

Have you tried to remove them with a damp cotton?
It looks like sediments left by splashed water drops.

[gdupont]

That’s what I thought it was at first too! Which was in part why I wiped off the leaves with diluted lemon juice, which removed the residue. The spots stayed though. They also look suspiciously circular/geometric.

[Roberta]

I doubt that it is either viral or fungal. Virus in particular doesn't look like that on any orchids that I have seen. (If you're worried about virus, get some test kits... testing is the only way to know for sure, appearance is a very poor indicator) I think just observe. I don't seen anything troubling.

[SouthPark]

It looks sort of like what we see on petri dish and agar when somebody is growing bacteria hehe.

If it's dried and not spreading, then should be ok. And this is on the oldest leaf too.

Also check to see if those spots also appear on the underside of the leaf as well.

And if the plant came from somebody - then also could save time by asking them to get their opinion about it ----- as the orchid came from them.

It doesn't look like virus though - so at least ok.

[estación seca]

Cattleya alliance plants have a waxy outer cuticle on the leaf. You may have damaged it. Learn to live with water spots.