What kind & how big are your pots & how often do you water? What would
you recommend?

Alison,
I have often found bark to be very treacherous in that it seems to me to be
dry when it is not yet. Follow Sue's advice to check if it is really dry.
Personally I find moss to be much easier to tell when to water -- when the
top surface feels as dry as a completely dry sponge is when I water Phals in
moss, and semi-hydroponics (see www.firstrays.com) is even easier to tell
when to water and it allows one to water even less frequently. Most of my
medium sized Phals at this time of year need to be watered every 10 days or
every other week, and some even less frequently. The only orchids that I
water more often than once a week are either not Phals (for example Phrag,
Milt, etc.) or they are really tiny (for example 2.5 inch pot seedling). But
your conditions being different than mine, the average watering interval
will be different. Overall I would recommend repotting your orchids into a
medium in which you can really tell when they dry out.
Joanna

wrote in message
ups.com...
J Fortuna wrote:
Alison,
Are you sure that this Phal _needs_ to be watered every 4 days? It
depends
on what it is potted, and the size/age of the plant, and your conditions
of
course, BUT that said in my experience very few Phals need to be watered
as
often as that. Could it be that you are watering more frequently than it
needs it?
Joanna

Hmm, well, it's in straight bark chips, in a 4.5" clay pot which is
also 4.5" deep, it's on a windowsill in bright light; the heat is on
below it in the winter, & many of the roots are at the surface so they
dry out fairly soon. My other orchids in similar pots get watered on
the same schedule & are fine. I do have one phal in a much bigger pot
which gets done once a week, & it seems happy with that. The fact that
the others of similar size/age etc. have done well, suggests that it
was I who screwed up & got water down that loose crown

Alison