Good job! You got the photos posted! Really can't help with the first picture, enlarge it so we can see it better. The second shot could be slug damage or possible bacterial. Could it have gotten sunburned and developed infection? Not sure on that one. Congratulations on the post, Jane

Sweetcicely (and all), I know it's mites becasue I have recently had to research them myself :( Just like Judy. The 1st, biggest giveaway is the roundish sunken dead areas. Typical mite damage. Those yellowish areas appear to be being attacked from behind, which is where mites love to hang out. (OP- any pics of the under side of the leaves?) Since you can't easily see mites, only their damage, a tried and true test (although I can't say that I see it) is to take a tissue, swab, cotton ball, etc, dampen it (H2O, or I use alcohol) and wipe the underside of the leaf. If you come up with a reddish tinge, you've got mites. But, since I don't really see anything when I do it, I just know what the damage looks like. If you google spider mites or mite damage, you should find pics. Also, orchid viruses are supposedly more or less uncommon. Most hobby growers have insect or fungal/bacterial damage if there's a problem, rather than viral, unless you happen to get an infected plant (again, more uncommon). But, after you've looked at enough pictures of both mites vs virus, you get an eye for what mite damage looks like. here's a discussion of this topic from this forum http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/orchids/msg0710185229356.html Here's some other picts http://www.ionopsis.com/Pests_and_Diseases.html http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/orchids/msg011644515336.html http://www.users.on.net/~gmcorbin/BOS/virus.html I'm no expert, but this just screams mite damage to me. Carolyn

Cannot see pics, have to sign in, you might be overwatering your orchid. Have a look at those thick leaves, they store water. Mine are in bark plus perlite and I only water once or twice a week. Moss can be good if you get the watering right. But as far as know the ancestors of the modern Phalaenopsis did come from the tropics but not from cloud forest areas. They got wet and then dried a bit before getting wet again. Plenty of past posts to read as well as the big Phal experiment on the latest page of this forum. Do a bit more research and then ask some more questions. This post was edited by arthurm on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 3:52

There really isn't much for me to add as the main points have been covered so well in the three follow up posts. However, I thought I would in my usual forthright manner amplify some points that were made. The first being that in no way can the location of the phal be satisfactory so far from the actual windowpane. There may be a new leaf started but is it actually growing? I would be astonished to discover that it is. And by growing I mean at least one inch of new leaf development in a months time. And what about the future? In zone 6 summer is officially over. Its essentially downhill from here and without a goodly supply of artificial light and a way of keeping the temperature in the immediate area of the phal in the mid 70's by day (any reasonable temp above 60F by night) it will stall (stop growth). This need not be deadly as most of us, including me, find it difficult to keep all our plants in active growth during the dog days of winter but how stall is managed is of vital importance. IMO the o.p. mists too much, fertilizes too much and 'may' also water too much. The last point is in doubt since s/he didn't actually say in what time period the orchid dries, this would be good to know. Whitecat's post was really quite impressive all things considered and it should be read twice more by the o.p. I should mention that moisture anywhere near a phal except at the roots is to risk a condtion called "crown rot". It is quite common and in the past I lost quite a few phals to it until I learned to be absolutely obsessive about keeping water away from the crown of phals. If you do wash dust and such from phal leaves this must be followed by an inspection of the crevices between the leaves at the top of the crown and any moisture trapped in there must be blown out or blotted out with paper towel. Misting can also leave enough moisture behind to promote crown rot which is why I mention it. True 'misters' don't exist anymore. The plastic spray bottles don't mist, they spray. Mist is water droplets under a micron in size (thats really tiny) spray bottles don't even come close to that. Good Lord and I haven't even gotten to the fertilizer but I have to go, more later, maybe. H