Bacterial soft rot or sunburn?

[Orchidrhia]

Hi all, I noticed this wet spot on the leaf of my young phal just now. It even shriveled the corner of the leaf. Is it bacterial soft rot or sunburn?

Anyway, in a fit of panic, I cut off the infected area and placed cinnamon powder on the cut. Did I do the right thing? What should I do next?

Thank you in advance for any help/advice!

[camille1585]

Could be sunburn if it was in a spot where it may have had direct sunlight for a short time. If direct sunlight wasn't a possibility, you need to have a critical look at your growing environment to determine why the conditions were favorable for disease development. (Unless this is a recently purchased plant?)

There's nothing you need to be doing now since you've removed the affected area. I don't expect the plant to be set back too much since there's a new leaf developing to take over.

In the future, the 'wait and see' approach is generally advised before amputating leaves. If it's sunburn then the spot won't get any larger but will dry out over time. If it's rot, or a secondary infection sets in after sunburn (I've had that happen once) then you need to watch the plant to see if the spot gets larger over time. In that case, then is the time to consider cutting the leaf.

[Orchidrhia]

Thank you for your insight Camille! It's a pretty new purchase, I've had it for only two weeks and as you can see from the photo, it suffered a bit of mechanical damage from the packaging so I don't know if that could've contributed to this as well.

We also had a crazy storm yesterday and rain water could've splashed on to it without my knowing. Today, however, was a very bright and sunny day and even though my orchids are in a pretty sheltered east-facing spot with indirect light most of the time, they do get a tiny bit of direct sunlight for about an hour or so. With all these possibilities, I'm finding it hard to pinpoint the exact cause. I'll try moving my orchids to a safer spot in the meantime just in case it is sunburn.

I'll definitely use the 'wait and see' approach the next time. I was just so scared of the whole plant being infected that the scissors immediately came out.

Thanks again for all your help!

[estación seca]

What are your growing temperatures?

[Orchidrhia]

Originally Posted by estación seca

What are your growing temperatures?

Around 28-32°C with humidity in the 70s I believe.