Sunburn or mysterious fungal or bacterial infection?

[mbentley]

I recently purchased two phals from my local greenhouse. Both appeared fine in the store, and the greenhouse clerk watered them for me before I left (they are currently in moss). When I got the two home, I noticed that there were discolored mushy stripes on the one side of one of the phals and the same stripe on one of the leaves of the other phal. It was a hot August day, and the ride home was about an hour. My question is, could this be sun damage, or did the watering just prior to leaving the store cause the mushiness in the leaves?

I'll try to attach a photo.

Thank you for your thoughts and recommendations!

[gngrhill]

Looks kinda like sun or heat damage.

[estación seca]

Yes, that's sunburn. Most of us don't let any direct sun shine on Phalaenopsis.

The areas should dry up and become papery. I would leave them alone, and not try to cut off anything, unless you can cut off the end of a leaf that is entirely brown and papery.

Sometimes a sunburned area can get infected with fungus, and the zone of mush advances toward the crown of the plant. If this happens, I would use a clean sharp blade for each cut, and cut off the leaf an inch from the mushy area towards the crown. Then dab powdered cinnamon on the cut surface only. If you have to make more than one cut, sanitize the blade between cuts with rubbing alcohol or 10% bleach solution for 5 minutes.

[Ray]

I agree. The plant likely had some direct sun exposure on the way home.

[PaphMadMan]

Sunburn for sure. Hard to imagine that diagonal stripe across the one leaf could be anything else.

[mbentley]

Thank you to everyone for the responses! A special thanks to Estacion Seca for the recommendation on follow up care.

[Tindomul]

I too agree and would do as Estación Seca suggests if the need arrises.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I agree with E.S.' comments, but in disinfecting cutting tools, skip the alcohol. Wash the blade then go straight to a soak in bleach or another strong oxidizer. Some also use TSP for this purpose. Don't mix disinfectants unless you are 100% sure they are compatible (potentially dangerous to you).