Paphiopedilum with brown pits on leaves

[paphnoob]

About a week ago i purchased my first paphiopedilum. Up until this, i had only taken care of oncidium and phalenopsis type orchids.

A day after i got it, i repotted it in a mix of moss and fine grade bark. It is in a clay pot with ventilation holes. I also cleared away the dead roots when i repotted it; it has 3 live roots left. I have it near a SW facing window; it isn't exposed to direct light. I watered it with pure water and a small amount of liquid fertilizer for orchids.

Yesterday, i noticed brown spots on the tips of one leaf. It didn't have these when i got it.

Has anyone had any experience with pitted brown spots on mottled paphiopedilum leaves?

Any advice is appreciated!

[MasonV]

You could try spraying it in the mornings with hydrogen peroxide 3% to disinfect. I did this before with one of my phals and it helped. Peroxide just breaks down into water and oxygen so the worst it can do is give your plant a little extra water. Just make sure none is pooled up in the crown of the plant so it doesn't cause crown rot. I am definitely not an expert though, I'm sure someone else has some more info for you on this...

[estación seca]

Those spots look fungal to me. This is a good site to read about orchid diseases:

Orchid Pests, Orchid Diseases

[MrHappyRotter]

Is it the very oldest (lowest) leaf? This may just be a case where the leaf is dying and drying out in weird patterns.

It's acclimating to new conditions and got repotted while in bloom, so it's dealing with a lot of stesses on top of only having 3 viable roots, so something has to give. Usually when stressed, they'll drop their lower leaves, which will start to turn yellow at the tips and will sometimes develop brown spots before turning brown entirely.

You can try cutting off the affected parts just in case it's a pathogen, use a clean straight razor blade, and then toss the razor. Most likely though, even if you cut it, the leaf will continue to yellow and eventually fall off.

[paphnoob]

Thanks for all of your input!

I researched to see if it was a disease and it seemed like it was brown spot, so i tried to treat it as an infection but it didn't work.

Then, as suggested, i thought that maybe it was the plants way of dropping its lower leaves, but now the spots are spreading to other leaves.

Can water quality cause these spots? Am i using the wrong medium or something?

[estación seca]

Paphs need purer water than do other orchids. Check your utility's online water quality report. Total dissolved solids should be below 100. Lots of minerals in the water can cause this.

[paphnoob]

I rinsed it with better quality water. Is there anything else i can do to help it?

[estación seca]

If the brown spots are salt damage, that damage is done. You are looking to prevent future damage.

[paphnoob]

Ah, i'll do better from now on with it. Thank you for your help!