Next steps in the road to recovery for Phal

[andrew__]

I have a phal which has been going downhill for what had seemed like no apparent reason... The leaves were looking like the plant was short on water so I gave it a quick watering and noticed that water was draining really slowly. Re-potted it today and found it was only potted in dense moss! All roots except a few that were above the moss were rotted and have been removed. I know I need to be very careful with watering at this point but what exactly should my routine be at this point? The roots it has are thick and healthy. Should I treat it like I would a normal phal or maybe give it less water? Just looking for tips on how to get this thing growing again instead of going downhill like it has been.

And so this thread isn't completely boring here's a picture of this orchid before its decline :

[SP2340]

Pretty flowers! There's many was to plant a phal but the way that works well for me is in a clay orchid pot with sphagnum moss mixed with about 30% styrofoam peanuts (thanks Mauro for this tip) to help drainage and prevent the moss from compacting. And just water it when the moss starts getting crispy. Also you should use something like Superthrive to get the plant going again. And also get some physan 20 to prevent desease. Good luck!

[Zoi2]

Your flowers are very pretty, if your roots are thick and healthy, I'd just water as normal. What did you repot it in?
Joann

[andrew__]

repotted into a standard epiphyte mix, much better draining but I forget which brand exactly.

SP2340 - that's roughly how this was potted... but replace "clay orchid pot with sphagnum moss mixed with about 30% styrofoam peanuts" with "normal clay pot with sphagnum moss with 3 styrofoam peanuts at the bottom"... oh, I guess that's not all that similar after all!

The roots it has left are a pretty good size/condition... but they're sort of short.

[Zoi2]

I would probably put a root hormone on and water as normal now that you've got it in a mix that will drain.
Joann