Brown spots: Are they a fungus?

[Machuni]

Hey everyone,

so I just got a few orchids for my dorm room from Lowes less than a week ago, and after doing some research, I realized that the brown spots on the leaves of one of the orchids may actually be a fungus.

The brown spots are mainly on only one leaf of one orchid, and are actually indented into the leaf, so the brown spot is actually depressed.

2 of the pictures are of the front part of the leaf, and 1 is a shot of the backside.

Does Lowes have a history of selling bad orchids? Or is this just due to the orchids mistreatment?

[Judi]

If Lowes has a reputation of selling bad orchids, I haven't heard of it. I have purchased one or two from them myself; they were in reasonable condition considering they came from a box store. You have to keep in mind that probably no one at Lowes knows much about orchids let alone their care. Phals are frequently sold in tight sphag to keep them from drying out, but if overwatered this could be very bad. I remember seeing someone water orchids which were packed in those plastic sleeves from the top with a garden hose--this was a different box store. I can only imagine those orchids were wet all night, the roots were probably on their way to rotting, and the leaves were probably suffering also. I'm not sure if you have fungus, but it's possible. Or maybe water puddled on the leaf or there was some other damage--it doesn't look like it is bug related. Maybe someone else has some ideas.

[mclyle]

I had a similar problem (not from Lowe's). I sprinkled cinnamon on spot, on both sides, and it stopped it from spreading. On another (more advanced) orchid, I used a NEW razor and cut off the leaves and put cinnamon on edges where cut. This, also, took care of the problems. Good luck.

[ohanahana]

i asked a knowledgeable orchid person the same question today--she showed me some phals she had that had the same symptoms as your photos--she said it had to do with water sitting too long on the foliage. she didn't cut hers off. hope this helps--