oops...for some reason my pic didn't post....here it is.

It looks like you have sunburn. Has anything changed with the lighting at all? A tree that used to provide shade dropping leaves or something like that? Have these phals made it through an entire winter in this same spot?

Yes it has been in the same pot. They are small phals. The tree it is in is thinning out but it has been for a while. I thought sunburn too but that little dimple in the one leave on the right got me wondering.

Maybe some drops of water landed on it and the sun burnt it?

Maybe some drops of water landed on it and the sun burnt it?

I still think it is sunburn. Sometimes sunburned areas are more vulnerable to infection. Have those spots gotten larger?

Looks like bacterial brown spot to me. Sunburn usually runs across the leaf like the way you get sunburn on your nose and cheeks but not on the chin.

It does look like the light may be too bright for a phal, which will stress the plant and increase the chances of getting a disease.

I have attached a link that I use to identify leaf spots.

Here is a link that might be useful: orchid diseases

I vote, sunburn. Move them to less light.

Jane

Unless the spots are growing, soft, and oozing, i would not worry too much. Check out the sunburn pictures from the same site. I have burned more plants than i would prefer to share. Some have looked like yours. Only one developed a secondary infection, which i delt with by cutting the leaf off.

Here is a link that might be useful: sun burn

Here is an updated picture. I sprinkled cinnamon on the leaves and surrounding area as a precaution until I figure out what i should do with the orchid. It has gotten worse. If you look at the far leave towards the right, you can see yellowing on the edge. Do you still think it's sunburn...I'm swaying towards a fungus although the crown is not soggy. I took it from outside and put it in a bright south room for now to see what hapens

I think it was caused by sunburn. That yellow leaf will drop off and provided the newest leaf is undamaged the the plant will probably recover.
Here, Phalaenopsis are regarded as difficult and the general cultural advice is never put them outside unprotected from the sun.
Does the humidity ever drop there so that you get "Arizona Sky" or is the gulf stream always dominant?

The fact that the leave that is yellow isn't a bottom leave is a concern but...Ok...I'll go with the sun burn then...that's why I'm asking....I'll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens to the spike...it is a pretty flower. It has been very dry here in the last few weeks. It just amazes me how quick it turned. I was just admiring the plant last week it seems...thinking how good it was doing. One is the parent and the other is the keiki. Thanks for all your input....

If it is flowering it could mean the end of the plant regardless of the grow point being viable. The flowers take a lot of energy and some of that is drawn from the leaves.

A dilema though. If the plant is damaged and won't survive anyway, let it bloom. But if the plant is still viable then you may have a tough decision to make. Let it bloom and it might die. Or cut the bloom but what if it dies anyway. A dilemma

The gulf stream has significant influence into St. Lucie county and south and then fades away. The prevalent wind is southeast. That keeps us warm in the winter and a little cooler in the summer. That influence is mostly SE coast. Except the West wind. Nasty hot and frequently dry and can happen most of the year. Fortunately not too many days like that. A rare winter west wind is colder...Beyond that above average humidity.

Hmmmm...hadn't thought of that....well...someone from this forum once told me about another situation with a different orchid, to "leave it alone...it knows what to do". They were right then....I'll do the same now...I'll leave it alone and let nature and the orchid take it's course...thanks again. I'll let you know how it turns out in a future follow up.

OK good decision. Keep us posted...

OK good decision. Keep us posted...

looks like it got way too cold. here i was gonna gripe about cutting roots of a phal, because they dry out and the phal eats from them. i mist mine daily, a few times, but, it lives without a pot and without substrate on a stump. pots seem to damage them, but, what is one to do when they can't not have a pot. anyway did you apply a foliar fertilizer? that, cold, lighting condition and some kind of fungal, viral or bacterial infection, might be why. i am no afficinado, mine might die. i am just trying something new. the roots photosynthesize, have you let light to the roots? pic is day three for me on mine, airing out, light on the roots misting a few times a day. looks rough, all yellow, but, time will tell, at most some great green roots. what do your roots look like? mine came with yellow and green roots, kinda rough looking.

mine looks like it was a keiki for a long time too though, could be wrong but that one spike looking thing looks like it. So I am assuming whenever it shipped the substrate flipped it out but those yellow roots will eventually feed it. I think I got a fantastic deal on it. anyone have an fyi, let me know. pic is what I assume is a left over keiki part. so this plant has got me hitting the orchid books learning what I can. fun hobby.

You are writing Phalaenopsis information for mostly newbies and telling them that there is something wrong with having Phalaenopsis in a pot with potting material.

That may be correct, but the two Phalaenopsis "Experts" in the local orchid society who have hundreds of Phalaenopsis grown in Glass-Houses set for Phalaenopsis, have them all in pots.

There is a trend to grow them in clear Plastic pots because the roots go green after watering so you might be on to something there.