Need help! What is this spot on my phal leaf?

[buckeyetotoro]

Hi everyone. This is my first post but I've been checking this site quite often. You guys are great! I've been buying half-dead Phals from Lowe's (it has become my hobby/addiction!) and growing them for about 2 years. Thanks to your advice, I've been doing quite well,l though I killed some...
Today I found one weird spot on one of the leaves of the phal I recently purchased from Lowe's, and I'm quite concerned about this. I've never seen this spot - it's sort of yellow at the center with a darkish green ring around it. This spot is somewhat translucent. I've been checking on the internet like crazy, and I'm afraid it could be erwinia??? If you can help me, I'd truly appreciate it. I'll attach two photos - one from the top and one from the bottom. Thank you so much!

[Ferns Daddy]

HI Welcome to OB, I'm not sure just what the spot is but a few of my phals from lowes has the same thing I just cut the left off and it never came back on any new growth, maybe some one will come along and tell you what it is and what to do about it

[buckeyetotoro]

Thank you so much for your reply, FD. I'm glad and relieved to hear that yours never came back. Maybe it's not as serious as I thought it was!

[quiltergal]

It's a bacterial soft rot of some kind. It could be erwinia. To be on the safe side I would isolate the plant and remove that part of the leaf with sterile scissors or a razorblade. Dab a little kitchen cinnamon on the cut surface and hope that is the end of it. Just be aware that erwinia or any bacterial soft rot can decimate a collection in a very short period of time. Make sure you don't reuse tools without sterilization.

[james mickelso]

I would isolate it after cutting out the spots and dabbing on some cinnamon on the cuts.

[buckeyetotoro]

Thank you very much for your advice, Terri and James. So it is a soft rot? I wonder what I did wrong... (-_- A lot to learn! I'll do what you advised me to do and hope and pray it will never come back or hasn't spread to other orchids. Thank you, again!!

[Lagoon]

Try not to worry to much about this. I've had this a couple of times on my phals. I just remove the rotten area and all was fine.
If you choose to wait you will see the soft area become larger and larger. In my opinion its best to cut out this part. Newer leaves will grow within time

[buckeyetotoro]

Thank you very much, Gloria. I checked on the internet and a soft rot sounds like a very serious disease, so I've been really nervous. It's nice to know somebody has had the same experience and that their orchids are doing fine now. Thank you for sharing your experience with me!