Is this scale?

[orchid623]

I can't tell if I've just scratched my plant with a clasp or if I'm seeing beginning signs of scale. I lost one bud due to fumes from the propane fireplace, and moved the poor thing to another room. The other buds seem to be growing rapidly still, so that is good.

In the second picture, the top 'spot' is where I know I did accidentally scrape the spike with a clasp early on.

I haven't actually SEEN any insects, are they visible to the naked eye? I haven't been able to find any decent pictures of scale online anywhere, so I'm not sure what exactly to look for.

So, what do you think? Scale or just scratched?







---------- Post added at 06:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:21 PM ----------

Holy mother, I didn't know the pics would turn out to be this huge. Sorry!