Phalaenopsis: Sunburn like leaf damage with white spots - Fungus?

[RavenTheJust]

Hello orchid friends!
My father in law recently died and it turned out that he had a beautiful, yet a little bit neglected Phalaenopsis (needed repotting).
Since my wife would not let me have more orchids (it's fine, really - I only have 14!) it went to my mother in law.

She's not really a pro on orchids - I think she never had one re-potted in her life but I thought there is not much that could go wrong and I could re-pot for her and look how it is going from time to time.

Now she went on holidays and the plant ended up in my care. Unfortunately it looks worse than three weeks ago when I last saw it at her place.
The leaves have become wrinkly but I don't fully understand why. There is not too much moisture in the substrate.
It's old, yes, it needs re-potting, that's clear, but I thought I'd wait until the current bloom is over - if it's healthy it should not be pressing, I thought.
I thought I'd spray it to re-hydrate and see how it goes.

However, while spraying it this morning (my wife brought it home yesterday evening) I noticed an odd area on one of the leaves.
It looks a bit like a regular sunburn but I can't make sense of these white spots which have formed.
Sunburn could be, since my mother in law placed it next to a window where it could get noon-sun and I don't know where my father in law kept it. But these white spots look odd. Could it be scale insects? Or a fungus?

The underside of the leaves looks completely fine - I can't make sense of it. But if it's a fungus, I don't want to spray it - I'd cut the leave and hope that it has not yet spread. If it's scale insects, I actually don't know what to do since I never had them so far..

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Best regards

Lukas

[Ray]

Looks like sunburn to me.

I have occasionally seen the white fungus grow on dying tissue like that, and it never progressed.

[WaterWitchin]

Looks like sunburn to me as well.

[estación seca]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

You can repot Phals in flower. If it hasn't been repotted in a long time I would do it now.

Hybrid and most species Phals should never have direct sun on their leaves. They are low light plants. It also sounds like it isn't getting enough water. This could be from insufficient watering or poor roots.

You and your mother in law might benefit from a thread here. From the left yellow menu chose Forums then Beginners. Near the top is a sticky thread The Phal abuse stops here. Read through the first few pages.

[RavenTheJust]

Thanks so much for your replies.

This eased my concerns. I will leave it in a separate room for now because, I want to rule-out scale insects 100% before I move it next to my other orchids.

@estación seca
I know - my other orchids are on eastward and westward windows they never have noon sun, only morning and evening and they thrive.

This one really had a bad-lot with my mother in law - she's a lovely lady but aparently orchids are not really her strong side. I should've know.
I will re-pot and give it back to her in a new pot which I hope she can manage better.

Eventually spraying is probably not for most average plant owners. Either they lack sprays and if they have one they use tap water - which is usually too hard around here.

I hope I'll remember to post an update to share how the plant is doing.

Best

[estación seca]

My tap water has pH 8.5 and dissolved solids of 600-1200 parts per million/mg per dl through the year. I can use it on Phal. hybrids without problems as long as I water thoroughly.

[RavenTheJust]

Do you spray the orchids with this water and let it evaporate, or do you dip them in it?
Dipping I'd understand - you flush out the mineral build-up every time.
But spraying I'd be a bit surprised - however - that doesn't say anything..
I don't know any people who like orchids as much as I do and I know that I know almost nothing about the broad spectrum which one is able to keep them in..

[estación seca]

Sorry, I misunderstood. I water them by wetting all the medium in the pot. If you water at the sink run the water through so all the medium is completely wet. Then let it drain in the sink for a few minutes.