Rescued phal (I think) has scabs?
 

Hey everyone.

I rescued this orchid, I think it's a phal, out of the corner of a planter that had a large ficus bonsai growing in it. My dad bought the ficus from a plant shop, and realized that there was a sad little orchid plopped into the corner of the pot the tree was in.

The leaves were quite damaged, they had weird raised bumpy scabs on them (not scale) and one leaf had a hole right through it. I dug it out of the potting soil (yes, it was in soil) and the roots were pretty awful, as to be expected. I've repotted it in a mixture of coconut husk, perlite and lava rock. The roots look like they've improved since being repotted, but the leaves look more or less exactly the same.

Someone suggested I treat the scabs with hydrogen peroxide, and if it fizzes, it's a fungal infection. I tried this, the bumps did not fizz but the edges around the hole through the one leaf did, and as the peroxide dripped down to the crown of the plant, that fizzed as well (crown rot I assumed.) I continued using the peroxide every few days, and now the fizzing has finally stopped.

My question is this: is there something more I should be doing about the scabby bumps, or was this just a symptom from it being too moist and severely over watered for however long? Perhaps from water droplets sitting on the leaves for extended periods? I've kept it separated from my other orchids and am not sure how long I should keep it that way.

The picture isn't the greatest quality, if needed I'll try to take another. Thanks!

How did you determine that wasn't scale? It sure looks like it to me....Jean

They look like scale to me as well. Make sure to keep it isolated for the time being.

Try cleaning the leaves with a cotton ball dipped in isopropyl alcohol, rubbing firmly but gently. Good luck with your new orchid! :)
I keep meaning to try bonsai....

My dad knows a whole lot more about plants than I do, he gets scale on his bonsai trees sometimes and has shown me it several times. He also saw the orchid, as it was at his house when I rescued it (he knows lots about trees - little about orchids :P) Anyway, the scale I've seen in the past I've been able to scrape off with a fingernail, these are actual bumps in the flesh of the leaf. Unless scale is different on orchids than trees, or this is just marks from scale and it's gone now? I don't know!


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If they are right in the flesh, it is likely a type of edema. Here is a link to some images of it. One image looked very similar:
Images of Edema on Orchids

I think it can be caused from erratic watering such as too much water and the leaf sort of blisters. They won't go away but shouldn't hurt the plant.

That does sound and look right to me! The marks are right in the flesh of the leaves, it's not something that can be scraped off. If it is edema, should I still be keeping it separated from my other orchids? It hasn't gotten any worse since I rescued the orchid, so it seems that whatever it was is now under control.

Edema isn't contagious. But it is always a good idea to keep a new orchid isolated for a few weeks at least to make sure no other issues that might be contagious develop. I have bought orchids that had scale, but the seller cleaned them up and they looked good only for the scale to show up several months later after so I try to be very diligent about that.