Hi Marcy, I am a beginner myself and I'm constantly experimenting with media for my environment. This particular phal I planted in a 3 inch net pot with sphagnum moss. When I left for vacation, I set the net pot on top of a mason jar with a bit of water to give it more humidity. When I came back, it was blooming, there were new root nubs coming out, and one fat root grew out of the pot and across the bottom. I thought it had mold at first because it was so fuzzy! But I learned that it's natural for roots to grow little hairs to grip onto media. Because of this root I cannot set it on a flat surface, so I decided to leave it on the mason jar but cut a few side holes on the top the net pot so it can have some air circulation. It's a similar idea like having an "oxygen core" pot from repotme. I actually repotted several of my minis this way, and they seem to be doing okay, and one is going crazy with roots.
Set in an outside pot, it takes longer to dry out, so I removed most of the moss from the middle of the root ball and replaced it with styrofoam peanuts. I add some moss loosely on the sides. This phal doesn't have very good roots and they're discolored so it's a bit hard for me to tell when to water, but if the moss is slightly moist/almost dry all the way through then I water. It used to turn super crunchy in the net pot without mason jar because it would never be "almost dry" when I checked - either still quite damp or bone-dry. For the ones with better roots I water when the roots turn silvery gray (not green anymore).
There is a lot of information on this forum on how to keep phals alive. If you search for "root rotting" or "phal overwatered," you'll find that many people have the same problems. And there are many great discussions with people offering their tremendous wisdom and experience. That's pretty much where I got all my understanding of what phals need and am trying to put things into practice.
I killed multiple phals before I started to get the hang of it, and even now I'm not entirely sure that I am not slowly killing them. It's my constant fear.
From my experience, getting rid of soggy mass in the middle of the root ball is key. Depending on the size on an orchid, you can use an upside-down net pot underneath the stem to enhance airflow to that area and keep moisture-retaining media away. This is especially important if you use moss or a larger pot. This probably isn't necessary if you use a net pot 3 inches or smaller, because it dries out really quickly anyway.
Once you solve the problem of the wet rootball middle, you want to make sure that the pot and the amount of media fits the mass of roots. So the pot should be rather small, and it's best if it's transparent so you can see the roots. This will tell you when to water. The traditional choice of media is between moss and bark, and you will see A LOT of discussion about the benefits of one vs the other. I have a few different experiments going on so not sure exactly what works best for me yet. But I really am liking the styrofoam with a little bit of moss approach for the minis (90% styro, 10% moss, only on the sides where it dries out eventually). For the larger plants with well-developed root systems, I have 1 in pure moss and 1 in pure bark and they're both doing very well, but the moss is starting to get less fluffy after several months, so I wish I had mixed it with something that retains its shape like bark or styrofoam. I have several plants in bark with a few wads of moss around the roots to retain humidity, but they're recent transplants so I can't comment on any success yet. They don't have very good roots, so I'm not expecting miracles, but who knows!
If you're using moss, I would highly recommend going for a pot with slits/holes or a net pot. Someone suggested using whatever amount and type of media allows the plant to dry out within a week. This will depend on your climate and humidity, but give you an idea whether your plant is staying too wet for too long. "Dries out too fast" is better than "dries out too slow," as long as you can water more frequently. However, some plants just come with some extensive root damage already, so there isn't much you can do.
Woohoo for orchid twins! Can't wait to see yours bloom! And welcome to the board. You will learn so much here, I'm sure. Feel free to ask me any questions, or you can make your own post to get responses from a wider community. Definitely make use of the "Search" function to find relevant topics, and prepare to spend hours reading the pages! And to get more orchids....
First rebloom - weird four-petal flowers!
I got this Noid phal at Trader Joe's, because I really liked the slightly mottled leaves and unusual soft pink flower petals. The orchid wasn't in very good shape: the root system seemed underdeveloped, flowers looked sad, and spikes looked so thin, though it didn't show signs of disease or pests. There was also a "pretzeled" spike that grew back into the stem some time ago. I probably wouldn't have gotten it based on its physical condition, but it really stood out to me among all the other phals I've seen at Trader Joes, Lowes, or HEB, so I brought it home!
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