2 Phal violaceas with pale blotches

[CPKidofAugusta]

I'm not sure what is going on, but it has me nervous. I'm inclined to believe that it's sun damage/ heat stress since both of them have been suffering from admittedly dangerously high temperatures, and both did receive a little bit of sun damage a couple of months ago. But i'm not sure this accounts for the roughened appearence of the coerulea's leaves (close up included).

Unfortunately I cannot be sure that these are or are not a recent development, but i do know that they are definitely older than at least a couple of weeks.

As a side note, the black, dessicated spots on the phal violacea coerulea's leaves (the one in flower) are remnants of an old bacterial infection which was taken care of with a bactericide. There have been no new developments in that regard since winter.

I hate to sound like a worry wart but i should say that my real reason for posting is I'm worrying that they might be viral in nature. I'm not sure what got me thinking that but I cannot seem to dispell my fears and, as they say, not knowing is the worst part.

Love the flower though.

[WhiteRabbit]

[RandomGemini]

I'm not seeing any pale spots in particular. I see some lighter green spots in the areas you circled, but my violacea looks similar, as does my bellina. The coloring on the leaves on these are not nice and even for me.

Can you get some different pictures with a bit more light?

From these photos, I think your plants are fine. I'm not seeing anything here that makes me think virus.

[nikkik]

[ALToronto]

I think the problem is the pitting, no? The pits are paler in colour. My phals are afflicted with the same problem, to a much worse degree than yours. I have no idea what it is, but I'd like to find out. Mine were worse in the winter, when it was pretty cold in my growing area, down to 16 deg. at night.

[RandomGemini]

There's no evidence of pitting in these photos. The OP was concerned about discoloration on the leaves, which is normal for this species.

What you're describing sounds like sunburn to me, but could also be caused by insect activity of some sort.

[RNCollins]

I think these leaf "blotches" are similar to what was discussed in another forum recently...

Phal problem - Slippertalk Orchid Forum- The best slipper orchid forum for paph, phrag and other lady slipper orchid discussion!

[CPKidofAugusta]

Sorry to keep the thread hanging so long, sorta put it on a back burner.

Good news and bad news.

This last friday we went to Carter & Holmes for their open house, as we often do since it's a pleasant 1.5 hr drive from where we are. Picked a few nice plants including a Brassavola cucullata that has a bud opening at this very moment, so you might see that. While there I gave one of the workers there the third degree about the coerulea in specific.

The good news is that we have a fairly definitive diagnosis!

The bad news is that diagnosis is a terrible, nasty infection of mites. They've screwed up either the new leaf or the entire crown. I've already taken action against them but the plant's future is uncertain. The magenta, by the way is alright, it's a minor infestation and the new leaf has grown by leaps and bounds since the photo in the original post.

I was told I have two options: do nothing and hope a new leaf starts, or make a seedpod. It's a catch 22 situation, the crown might be so gone that there's no hope of a new leaf and if all of the flowers fall off, there's no chance. But if I make a seed pod, I could severely reduce the chances of the crown regenerating. I think seedpod is the way to go though. It's on its second flower and a third but is on its way and I think its overall less risky, since the crown is not looking so good and the only way for the seed pod to fail is if the plant kicks the bucket within the next six months. And, as a bonus, as shallow as this is, there's a chance some albas will arise from the seed population which is one of the things pushing me in that direction.

Edit: accidental smiley, how odd