Yes, water it again! The bark should be soaked for at least 1 hour prior to repotting. Trying to wet the bark by just watering it is almost impossible. If it is growing well and watered correctly the leaves will stiffen somewhat; they also grow very slowly from the center point. You can water the leaves but do not let water sit in the crevices of leaves; it invites rot. Water in the early part of the day to allow the plant to dry off. It needs air as much as water. Never let it sit in water; you will rot the roots. It is a good starter plant and many are sold as gifts and people don't have the time to work with orchids Also water it weakly weekly 1/4 strength dose and use a urea free fertilizer. Don't expect any flowers until at least next year. Local Orchid societies are a good source of excellent info. Do a search; there are societies in Northern NJ & NYC.

Hi alienbox,

Welcome to the addiction! ;-) It does sound like it will make it, especially with such good intentioned care. I would like to add some suggestions to help you out.

The light sounds ok, but your Phal would probably be much happier if it were in an East-facing window, if you have one available to you. The problem with a North-facing window is that it doesn't actually get any sun. It may be bright to the naked eye, but your plant may not agree. Forget all that "bright indirect light" crap you read on orchid labels - they're talking to people in Florida. We're in the North (some of us more so than others) and plants need all the light they can get, especially since it's not exactly sunny all the time up here at this time of year. Having said this, if you can move them into more light, do so gradually. Think of it as building a base tan to be able to tolerate more light.

You said your plant had not done anything in the time you've had it. All those wild roots that were around it - are they new, do they have green growing tips? That means your plant is happy. First come new roots, then new leaves and then finally flowers. You should also note that these orchids are tropical plants that enjoy warmer temperatures. You'll notice it'll really perk up once the days get longer and your apartment gets warmer. That's likely when you'll start seeing a new leaf.

Repotting it was a good idea, but you need to use stuff meant for orchids. The stuff for outside use, which the Mosser stuff sounds like, is treated differently and the size is not quite right for orchids. You can go to any Lowes or HD and buy a bag for less than $10. As tiarella advised, you do need to soak it before you use it. Don't water it again - the reason you need to presoak bark is that the bark has been kiln dried to kill off anything bad. It also repels water in this state, water rolls off of it like off of a duck's back. Pre-soaking and rinsing it a couple of times gives it back its water retentive qualities and gets rid of any dust.

I'm kind of concerned about the ceramic pot you're using. Ceramics are glazed not to let any water or air through, and orchids are epiphytes that need air as much as water, as tiarella said. They also rarely have lots of holes in them. Most of us put our plants in plastic pots, then slip them inside a decorative ceramic pot. It makes watering very easy, too. As your plant dries, it will get lighter. This will be really easy to tell if your plant is in a plastic pot rather than a ceramic pot.

I've included a culture sheet on Phal's that I think will help too.

Best of luck!

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: Phalaenopsis Culture Sheet

I agree with Julie about the need for a bit more light and the ceramic pot. Unless it has lots of drainage holes, it can mean death for an orchid. Also, the pot should be just big enough to accommodate the roots and a bit more, otherwise there will be too much medium that can stay too wet without enough roots to utilize the moisture, and roots can rot.

As for light, go by the leaves. If they are dark green the plant needs more light. If they are olive green then they're okay.

Nice rescue!