Strange brown growth and dark spot on Cattleya leaves

[ergovolts]

I'm relatively new to orchids and one of my new plants has some strange growths on it that I can't identify. Does anyone know what this is and how serious a problem it might be?

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

That looks like old damage from scale insects. I would first spray the whole plant and medium with 70% alcohol (rubbing alcohol.) Keep it away from other plants for a few weeks. Do some reading here about scale. The Search function is in the top maroon menu.

[ergovolts]

Wow, they did a number on it. Hopefully it's just old damage. Should I still be able to see the scale pest? Will using a higher %alcohol be an issue? Thanks for the help!

[estación seca]

There may be so few now they're hard to see. I would dilute down to 70%.