2 phals in 1 pot

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

In an ideal world, most folks say don't put two orchids together, don't let water drip from one mount down onto another, etc, etc.

Some "orchid rules" don't make much sense to me either. However, I'll address this elsewhere, because I don't want to hijack in Beginner forum with a loaded or controversial topic that isn't answering the OP's question.

For me, with two cheap hybrid big box style Phals, I'd pot them together in a heartbeat. I've done so. The worse thing that would happen is they would share cooties, and might not survive. It's not like one has lost much money if it happens. To me, it's no different than getting a bouquet of cut flowers and sticking them in a vase, except the potential to last a lot longer. Or getting a congratulations or funeral flowers with Phals and other plants all potted up in the same cache pot.

But, that's just me. You have to weigh the pros and cons of the desired outcome.

The only thing I will add to this is that I was recently in my local grocery store (a major chain) and found a very nice noid phal in bloom with a price tag of $65! I didn't look twice.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Dusty Ol' Man

The only thing I will add to this is that I was recently in my local grocery store (a major chain) and found a very nice noid phal in bloom with a price tag of $65! I didn't look twice.

You have got to be kidding! Do you grocery shop at Tiffany's?!?

[3rdMaestro]

I once inherited a NoID phal from someone that was moving. They didn't want to take it along to their new place (partly because they didn't know how to care for them) but it was still in its original pot when I got it. Upon examination, it was actually 2 plants in one pot. Now I suppose they could have kept growing that way, but it seemed like they were trying to shove each other out of the pot, their leaves were all in each other's way, the spikes were intertwined, so on. I decided to repot them. After I did, they both went berserk with new growth, like they were waiting for that moment. Here is a picture of one of the two plants now.
If you were deadset on putting two in one pot, I would recommend miniature (or as small as you can find) phals in a large pot. However, my experience has taught me its better to have a cramped single plant in a pot, than 2 cramped plants in a pot. Just thought I'd share my 2 cents