Welcome Pennylane
;
I am by no means an expert, nor do I live in the UK; with that said I believe you need basic phalaenopsis culture, which should be the same about anywhere. I do welcome anyone who has a differing opinion to please respond also; as I said, I am no expert, but have grown orchids for most of my life.
My phalaenopsis thrive in the following conditions.
Light - filtered bright. No direct sunlight or the leaves will burn; once burned the leaf will be scarred and less productive for it's life span. I have mine in the north window with a grow light about 1 foot above it. It continues to grow and bloom regularly. I know of people that grow them in east windows with diffused light, and others that grow them in south and west windows that are shaded by trees so there is no direct burning sun. Remember they grow on trees, and so they are shaded by the trees leaves; the sun they get would be very diffused and indirect.
Humidity - these plants LOVE humidity. Mist spray it often, with rainwater, distilled or (in my opinion, the best) Reverse Osmosis filtered water; avoid getting the blooms wet as they will spot and discolor. Also, mine sit over a pebble tray which is just a shallow tray filled with - you guessed it - pebbles. I elevate the pot out of the pebbles with a pot saucer turned upside down and keep the tray filled with water. This increases the humidity very well.
Fertilizer - I use a university formulated fertilizer (13-3-15 with trace elements of Ca and Mg - non-urea based), and am not sure what brands and such you have available. Since you have the one orchid, and do not have an extremely large or varied collection (yet) any leading brand of orchid fertilizer will work. I fertilize mine weakly, weekly; and old rule of thumb I learned a long time ago. You may find commercial orchid fertilizer that has a formulation of say, 11-35-15; this is fine would be fine.
I mix a batch of fertilizer at 1/2 the recommended strength and then I fertilize every other watering. When I water, I make sure to run plenty of clear water through to flush out any residue or salts. As far as formulations, other people will have their own preferences and this would be a good time for someone from the UK to recommend a brand that would be available to you.
Water - I left this for last as this really varies from climate to climate, house to house and room to room. I do not water until the medium is dry 1 inch down. For me that just takes about 2 days (I have mine in clay pots which suck the moisture out of the medium); I noticed yours was in a plastic pot. For you it may take a week to get this dry. Do not let the medium get parched before you water, just mostly dry. About the water - do not use chlorinated or treated water unless you have to; I have access to RO water, but good clean rainwater if fine also. If you have a salt based water softener, do not water plants with your tap as the salts will kill them.
About the worst thing you can do is keep an orchid too wet; if they are standing in water or are kept too damp, rot will set in and it is hard to save the plant. If you question whether to water or not, check the medium and if you still cant decide, wait a day. More orchids are lost due to poor watering techniques than just about anything.
Temperature - Phalaenopsis live in temp ranges that are comfortable for most people. They do well in the 65 -80 (F) degree range with proper humidity and water.
Air Movement - Keep it out of cool or hot drafts, but they like to have room temp air circulating around them to keep the air from getting stagnant.
Repotting - Phalaenopsis are notorious for crawling out of their pots whether they need repotting or not. As they are epiphytic, meaning they grow on the side of trees with no soil, their roots want air movement around them; naturally they would crawl along the bark of the tree or suspend down to catch dew and gather moisture from the air. But in time phalaenopsis form somewhat of a 'stalk' where their leaves join (experts - please forgive me for my simplification here); roots will appear between the leaves along with bloom spikes. Eventually the bottom leaves age and die; when several of them do this, the plant starts looking like it is hovering above the pot rather than in it Now it is time to repot. Do not repot if you have an active bloom spike; only when the plant is out of bloom or else you lose the spike. There are a lot of excellent videos on youtube about repotting orchids, so I will not go into that here; it's easier to learn if you see it done.
Well Pennylane, I think this about covers it.
Please if anyone can better direct this new member, feel free - I will welcome the input and can always learn more.
Hope this helps,
Steve
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