Hi, I need some advice. I live in mid-Michigan. I have a couple of
Phalaenopsis orchids. One I bought about 3 years ago, the other I bought
last winter. Both of them were in bloom when I bought them. The newer one
seems to be resting, which is understandable. The older one seems to be
very healthy, putting on new growth, lots of new growth. Unfortunately,
that is all it does is new leaves. I keep it in the kitchen in a northeast
facing window next to the sink. It gets misted every morning and watered
every Friday morning. I give it fertilizer every two weeks. It is set in
bark mix that that was changed two years ago. The house is cooled to about
77 degrees in the summer and heated to 70 degrees in the winter. It only
gets the light it receives thru the window which is direct sunlight for
about 2 hours in the early morning and then just diffused lighting for the
rest of the day. The air from the duct work cannot blow directly on the
plant. I will sometimes set it outside over night if I know the
temperatures will not drop too low and the humidity will be high. Some of
the oldest leaves look a bit worse for the wear (cat), with broken off ends.
A couple of the older leaves have a couple of dark brown circular spots
about a quarter inch in diameter. Two other older leaves also have what
looks to be a split down the center of the leaf that is very dark. The
plant currently has about 40 leaves on it, about half of them new the last
couple of months. HELP! Does anyone have advice and is there a book for
growing orchids indoors in northern climates?

Thanks,
George Weber