The Phal abuse ends here.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by GeorgeBoy

Hi,

I am very new to this so I would appreciate any help.

I am now the owner of two phals - my first orchids. I picked up my first literally off the side of the road 3 months ago and have been nursing it back to health. I have it in a draining ceramic pot with bark/sphagnum moss medium and I immerse the pot in water 10-15 minutes on a weekly basis. I have it on a westward-facing window and am about to figure out how to fertilize it as I try to coax a blooming stem out of it. This is going pretty well and I don't have any questions on it, but if anything stands out, let me know. I appreciate all advice.

Because I have been enjoying this minimal success, my wife rewarded me with another phal for Christmas. This one, however, is situated in a glass box surrounded by 0.5"-2" rocks and 1 inch of gravel at the base (pic included). No draining. Here's my question: I'm not quite sure how to water this. I threw a couple of ice cubes on the top to give it a drink, but I'd like a better permanent solution for watering and feeding. I'd like to keep it in this current potting set-up, as it is visually pleasing.

Thanks for any help.

There are a few choices for the Phal in the glass box...

1. Drill holes in the glass for drainage. It's very difficult, and I don't really encourage it.

2. Get it out of the glass box and put in a functional pot (a pot that provides proper drainage), and then put the plant in the functional pot inside a decorative pot (that also hopefully has at least one hole in it so that water doesn't collect in the bottom).

3. Forego the decorative pot altogether, and just grow the plant in a functional pot. You can choose from a terra-cotta pot, an opaque plastic pot, a clear plastic pot, or you can make your own pot out of a clear plastic 2L soda bottle.

I personally like going with the clear plastic pot or the 2L soda bottle converted into a pot. The clear pots allow roots to photosynthesize, they allow some visibility into the root zone area, and the potting medium dries out a little quicker in a clear plastic pot compared to an opaque plastic pot or a terra-cotta pot.