I bet it's bugs. Wipe the stalk with a 1 part alcohol / 1 part liquid soap / 8 parts water and this should disappear.

Nick

Carefully examine the stalk for small round disk like spots.
Could be scale. If there is no evidence this is normal it's a sugary sap. The following is an excerpt from Burnham Nurseries:The flowers naturally produce a sugary nectar that encourages insects to pollinate the flowers in the wild. Some types make a lot of this, which then can drip onto the leaves. Simply wipe in off with a damp cloth so and not to encourage mildew which can grow on it. This nectar can also encourage aphids to the flowers, which will breed quickly and spread amongst your plants. Wash these off too with slightly soapy water.

I second Terpguy.

Jane

I am with terpguy and Jane-----I think it is honeydew. It will also appear on your outside plants. You normally don't see it When you water your garden or even the morning due will wash it off. Lastyear here in Western Washington we had a drought (yes no rain in Washington for weeks).
I went out to pick cherries and every leaf and branch on the tree was covered with the honeydew. When the rains started it was gone. But before you blow it off make sure you don't have any sucking insects like scale, and aphids.
They will secrete the same honeydew ooz.

To check for insects, wipe the underside of the leaves with a clean damp cotton ball. If you see any specks, you have a problem.

I third Jane.

--Stitz--

I have had orchids for several years. Recently this one (which shares a table in a northern window with another orchid) started to dispense a resin- like sticky substance on the table surface. A couple of days after cleaning the tabletop, the 'splotches' of goo are there again. I've not witnessed this phenomenon before, and this is the only one displaying this behaviour. Any thoughts?

I'd start a new thread, you are more likely to get responses. And a picture of the resin would help!

I would say that the responses to the original post apply to you as well. Check under the leaves particularly along the edges and your flower stem at the nodes and the base of the flower. Most likely a soft bodied scale insect

I have the same problem of orchid flowering stem oozing with clear droplets. However, this flowering stem, which is almost 6 inches long, STOPPED growing and never bloomed! Any thoughts on what is wrong? Appreciate any help anyone can offer. This happened twice in a row now.

Its probably honeydew which is normal. Your Phal looks very healthy and lovely.

I agree with the above poster, please start a new thread. This thread is 9 yrs old.

No people, it’s not normal!!! The new flowers wither and fall off as a result. The old flowers at the bottom of the stem where there’s no leakage are still fresh. The stem is leaking and i don’t know why!

Same thing here. Flower stem started oozing sticky sap and buds (which had been growing on a new long stem) stopped developing and fell off - flower stem died. Now passed to leaves which are starting to exude this sap at the tips and afraid we'll loose the plant. Also now passed to another Paleaonopsis which is also leaking on the flower stem and the buds are also dying. Doesn't anybody know what this is? We are unable to treat it other than cut away the affected parts, but not happy about cutting into the leaves.

Small drops of sap are normal, mostly they appear on the flower stem at nodes or joints. If you are seeing large sticky areas on leaves or on surfaces around The plant it is from insects.

They can be hard to see and hard to get rid of. They hide deep in leaf folds, on the roots, under nodes etc.

Systemics work well but bugs will build up immunity so you need to alternate the type you use. I will use a combo of systemic and horticultural oil and soap sprays .

Phals and other orchids exude a honeydew. It is normal. Usually the plant gets rained on or ants feast on it. Indoors the best thing is to spray the plants with warm water in the sink to mimic outdoor rain.

When my grandchildren were little they loved wiping the honeydew and eating it. It is truly sweet as honey!

Bottom line is it is normal. Give the plants a rinse and enjoy the blooms.

Jane

Anyone know what this is on my scarlet-star? I just noticed it a few days ago. it’s very sticky and sort of stinks I haven’t found traces of any bugs on it at all. she seems super happy and like she is going to bloom soon.

I have the same and the sticky substance has dripped on to a wood table, how do I remove it without damaging the wood.

It’s basically sugar, a damp cloth should work. If you have a lot of drips look for bugs. They usually don’t produce enough on their own to drip.

This is commonly called "happy sap" because, well, it indicates a plant that is happy with it's conditions. If the plant is otherwise free of obvious issues then there is no need to worry. All my orchids do this, some more than others. I've read that it's to attract insects in the wild, such as ants, so that they'll pollinate the flowers.

I have a beautiful catlayea "Lime Sherbert" which I just got back from our "orchid sitter" It had one partially opened flower, and two buds (inside of one pod). The opened flower turned brown and fell off. But the two buds inside of the "pod" have emereged and are getting ready to bloom. So excited! Noticed this morning that a clear drop of something was on the end of one of the buds. It is not sticky however. I don't want to lose this orchid. The blossoms have a feathered edge and a slight fragrance.. The orchid is quite old, and the orchid nursery that was baby sitting it misplaced it for a couple of years. But then I got a call a last year they found it and divided it. This latest call from them was a surprise as I thought they had given me all of them back. It sits in an east window with some other orchids - phaleanopsis. We have special screens on those Pella windows which pull down if we want them to and they have extra small spaces in the screen which makes them almost invisible

Does this sound like there might be some sort of disease? I always water our orchids with water that has been sitting over night.

June

Midlotian, VA