Hi! I am new to this forum.
I've had several pots of Phalaenopsis over the years, but only recently have I been introduced to the world of pests. I found these strange, raised bumps on the underside of one of my Phaleanopsis leaves and I'm not sure what they could be. The largest bump in the whole cluster (white part only) is about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Here is a link to a photo:
DSCN5179 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
The white spot higher up in the photo, more or less by itself, is just a scar I think (not raised).
This Phal was a relatively recent acquisition (late august). It is actually a large pot with 3 Phal plants. We were thinking about waiting until Spring to repot it. Unfortunately, I didn't run a full on inspection of the plant before introducing it into my home so I can't say what condition it was in when it arrived. In general, it just looked healthy. It was green and had flowers. It just finished blooming, and aside from the smaller leaves towards the bottom that are a bit pale, the plant looks fine.
Could these bumps be scales? They seem to look different from the pictures I found online, but I don't want to assume anything. I tried rubbing these spots with Q-tips and alcohol, and nothing changes/comes off. On another leaf, I found a small amount of what looked like mealybug wax or cob webs, but no mealies. Before it occurred to me to take a picture of the gunk on my Phal for reference, I had already wiped it away with alcohol. So I can't say for sure whether this could be a confirmed case of mealies.
My cause for concern is that two days ago, I saw some mealybugs for the first time in my life on a spider plant and on 2 cacti. I don't know how long these bugs have been in my house, and a couple of days ago, I had unknowingly moved a cactus that was in the same room as the infected ones into the room with this Phal. The cacti in the same room as the Phal have questionable flecks of white--not moving and don't look quite like mealies, but still prefer to be cautious. So, armed with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips and a spray bottle, I'm going through every plant in my apartment and checking for any abnormalities. I already chucked some cacti that looked questionable since my reading on the internet has made me wary about raising mealybugs factories. I hope those devils haven't found their way into the Phal... I haven't found anything else on the Phal. And the rest of the orchids I have in the room all look fine and some of them are putting out flowers, too.
This Phal is kept at the window and it is starting to get cold now. The leaf with the bumps in the photo is actually flushed against the window I have. If it's not pests, could it just be scarring or something along those lines from the cold or rubbing against the window? I'm still going to drench my Phal with some alcohol + water tomorrow just in case and I'm also quarantining it for the time being. If over the next few days I continue to see these pests, I think I might have to make my way to Home Depot to pick up some insecticide.
Sorry for writing so much and thank you for reading! I would really appreciate any feedback! Thank you!
Phalaenopsis with bumps on underside of leaf
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