Scale? I'm not so sure?? Can fert buildup do this? Please help!

[gardengirl13]

Ok, it's been a good long while since I've posted anything here since I've just been puttering along with my orchids and dealing with life in general.

But I found something this morning and I have no clue what it is and I need help to make sure it's not something that will spread.

It's on my Masdevallia, I do have a bit of fert buildup on the rims of two pots this one included, but it's not anything that I normally am worried about, I usually just flush everything real good when I see it and it has never affected any plant ever.

But this is like either fert buildup or from some photos I've seen Boisduval Scale Infestation, but it's not fuzzy, it's actually IN the leaf, I can't scrape it off, it's not dry or wet. Now I've VERY VERY sadly dealt with scale on my 18 year old ficus (whom I had as a baby rescue that was only 12" tall with his rootball and at the time of his demise (after 6 months of trying to treat the scale with still no clue where it came from) he was well over 6" tall. This isn't the same thing at all!! There is no honeydew, no scale to be seen, not sure if Boisduval Scale is different from that or not?

I'm just not sure what this could possibly be? I water and look over the plants weekly and didn't notice this last week, I could have missed it if it was just starting to show up mildly, this little guy has never been fully happy, only blooming twice in the 7+ years I've had him, his leaves sometimes get a little tiny bit spotty as they age and dye back, they don't grow as well as they should and get kind of twisty every once and a while. I've tried watering more, watering less, nothing seems to help. He gets the same light as my phals, in windows with screens, but he's kind of in between the brighter picture window without a screen and the side windows with the screen, so that divider between them produces more shade than the screen does. With the lack of real healthy growth I do sometimes water him slightly extra in mid-week if he's looking dry, just like a tablespoon maybe. I fert weekly to every other week every diluted with repotme food, seaweed and a tiny splash (maybe 1/2-1 teaspoon/gal) vodka, the same thing I've been doing for over 15 years now. He was repotted within the last year.

But I just don't know what to do? I can't chance losing any more orchids if this is contagious. I have two problematic orchids (which sit next to each other on that windowsill) and I really don't have a good local supply to replace them. Every houseplant I've gotten over the last 6 years have had issues, so luckily I caught them while in quarantine before they got put near my plants! I don't want to toss any more plants, so I'm afraid to add anything new! I haven't bought a new houseplant in maybe 2-3 years. And yes, these were ALL bought at very reputable greenhouses not some random box store.

Any ideas???