Walter,

This won't help you this time around, but next time when you repot an orchid
into bark, if you use a transparent plastic pot, then you can observe when
there is no more moisture visible on the inside of the pot, and water then.

Why did you repot this orchid into bark rather than into moss anyway? If it
was doing well in moss, and you could tell when to water it in moss, it
would probably have been better to repot it into moss again. I am very bad
at telling when an orchid in bark needs watering (unless it's in a
transparent pot), and thus I try to repot as many of my Phals as possible
into moss.

Joanna

"Walter Whidden" wrote in message
...
I received a phalaenopsis last May as a gift. It is my first orchid. It
was rooted in moss and it bloomed all summer. When all the blooms were
done, I cut back the spikes and repotted the orchid in bark. When the
orchid was rooted in moss, it was fairly easy to determine the mosture
content, but bark is another story. Any advice on how to determine when I
should water? Thanks for any help.