What's happening to my phal?
 

Hi! My NOID phal has been in bloom since I received it as a Christmas present. I noticed over the past few months that there are green splotches on the phal stem. At first I thought maybe it was just cosmetic and ignored it as I only saw a couple. In the past month, I've noticed it's multiplied considerably. What is it and should I be concerned? I don't see any insects and no longer mist, so it shouldn't be a bacteria issue. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Susan

Not sure what the light olive green splotches are on the spikes, but the coloration of the leaves sure are really dark.

Btw, if you want to avoid the Phal twisting the other direction as time passes, try pointing the crown towards the light source more. ;)

Hmmm... it is hard to tell from picture. It almost looks like scale. Does a bump move when you rub it with q-tip and alcohol?

I'm guessing they're just marks left by the spike clips.

The "spots" don't look concerning to me, but I agree with Phil that the leaf color seems very dark. If it is the same color in real life as in the picture, I would gradually increase the amount of light it is getting. I try for an olive green with a slight reddish tint at the edges.

The actual leaf color might be quite brighter than it appears in the picture. If automatic exposure was used, the bright background would have tricked the camera into under-exposing (by at least 1 exposure value).

I think bugs are your problem.take the plant out of its pot to inspect the roots, look closely for bugs.

Philip: The leaves are not as dark as they are in the photo but are darker than I'd like them to be. I have already moved the sheer curtain so they get as much light as possible. Thank you for the suggestion. I originally had it facing the window, but the flowers were touching the window. That's why I moved it sideways. I do plan on moving it back once it's done blooming.

Anisa: I don't think it's scale, because all the bumps are green and rather large. It seems to be part of the plant instead of on it. Just in case, I did poke it and nothing happened.

Val: They are not from the clips, because I only have 3 and haven't moved them. The green spots just appeared. You are right about the camera adjusting the exposure.

Does anyone have any other ideas on what those green splotches are? Could it be possible that the actual flowers or branches come out of there?

It may just be a spot that has been damaged with a fingernail or such.

I haven't touched the stem so that's not possible. It started out with 1 or 2 when I received it. Now it has 16 of these green splotches. It's hard to tell from the photos but these are all green bumps are protruding out of the stem - not indented.