Mystery problem on my Phalaenopsis leaves

[akhenenra]

This mini phaelaenopsis has a problem on two of its leaves that has gotten progressively worse. It started as what looked like water spots on the leaves which I kept trying to wipe off. Then I thought maybe it was fertilizer residue since I had just used (diluted) fertilizer on all my plants. But it has slowly grown into basically an eaten away area that looks like it could actually become a hole on one side at least.

A quick googling turned up sunburn as the images that look most like it (but not exactly like it) but I don't think this is sunburn because they are kept in a grow tent and this plant is surrounded by other phalaenopsis that don't have this problem.

Would anyone recommend removing the leaves? It does not seem to be spreading just getting more pronounced. I am hoping I don't have to remove the plant entirely, it does seem healthy overall, blooming quite nicely right now. really appreciate the help.

[Ray]

I’m viewing on a small phone screen, but it looks like sunburn to me.

Phals should never get direct sunlight.

[Roberta]

Is this plant especially close to the lights such that it might have received excessive heat (even if just for a little while some time ago) ? Once heat damage starts, it can take awhile to fully manifest itself. (Cold damage can act the same, though it is more likely to lead to soft spots) As long as it stays confined to those two leaves, I don't think that you have to worry about affecting other plants. If your house isn't too cold, you could remove it from the grow tent for a week or two, just to be sure that the damage stays limited.

[akhenenra]

thank you! they definitely never get direct sunlight (they never really get true sunlight at all) but maybe this one did get burned from the grow tent light.

I took it out of the grow tent about 2 weeks ago since it was blooming, so I'll keep an eye on it closely. As long as it's not a disease I'm ok haha. Thank you both very much.

[Roberta]

If you know that it got burned, you have your answer. Doesn't matter whether the burn comes from the sun or a light, it's heat either way -sunburn is actually heat damage, nothing special about the source. Ugly, but won't do harm beyond reducing the amount of area for photosynthesis. It's not contagious... and because the parts of the leaves that didn't get toasted can still photosynthesize, that's the reason that you don't want to cut them - they're still contributing to the plant. Eventually they'll drop when the plant is done with them, let it happen naturally.