Congrats! It sounds like you have some healthy, happy plants. How long have they been in the current medium? The size of the pots does matter...a while back I heard a lecture on the care of paphs and the speaker said that they like to have a deep pot, but nothing that was overly wide at the top - the reason being that the water will drain to the bottom quicker if the pot is deeper, in turn reducing the risk of root rot. Now paphs are quite different from cattleya and phals, but maybe the same principle is there? A bag of regular orchid medium that you'd find at the local Lowes or Home Depot should be fine. Not sure about when was best to fertilize, so I cheated and looked it up their culture sheets on the AOS website :) Here it is copied from their site: Cattleya: Potting is necessary when the rhizome of the plants protrudes over the edge of the pot or the potting medium starts to break down and drain poorly (usually after two to three years). It is best to repot just before new roots sprout from the rhizome, after flowering or in the spring. Mature cattleyas are usually potted in coarser potting material than are seedlings. Until a plant has at least six mature pseudobulbs, it generally should be put into a larger pot and not divided. If dividing a plant, three to five pseudobulbs per division are required. Select a pot that will allow for approximately two years of growth before crowding the pot. Pile mix against one side of the pot and cut off any dead roots. Spread the firm, live roots over the pile, with the cut rhizome against the side of the pot. Fill the pot with medium, working it around the roots. Pack firmly and stake if necessary. Keep the plant humid, shaded and dry at the roots until new root growth is seen. Fertilize on a regular schedule. In fir bark, a high-nitrogen (such as 30-10-10) formulation, or a similar proportion, is used. Otherwise, use a balanced fertilizer. When in active growth, plants need fertilizer at least every two weeks, and when not actively growing, once a month. Fertilizer can also be applied with every watering at one-quarter the recommended dilution. Thorough flushing with clear water every month is recommended to prevent the buildup of fertilizer salts. Phalaenopsis: Potting is best done in the spring, immediately after flowering. Phalaenopsis plants must be potted in a porous mix. Potting is usually done every one to three years. Mature plants can grow in the same container until the potting medium starts to decompose, usually in two years. Root rot occurs if plants are left in a soggy medium. Seedlings usually grow fast enough to need repotting yearly, and should be repotted in a fine-grade medium. Mature plants are potted in a medium-grade mix. To repot, remove all the old medium from the roots, trim soft, rotted roots, and spread the remaining roots over a handful of medium in the bottom of a new pot. Fill the rest of the pot with medium, working it among the roots, so that the junction of the roots and the stem is at the top of the medium. Fertilize on a regular schedule, especially if the weather is warm, when the plants are most often growing. Twice-a-month applications of high-nitrogen fertilizer (such as 30-10-10) are appropriate where bark-based media are used. Otherwise, a balanced fertilizer is best. When flowering is desired, a high-phosphorus fertilizer (such as 10-30-20) can be applied to promote blooming. Some growers apply fertilizer at one-quarter strength with every watering; this is best for warm, humid conditions. When cooler, or under overcast conditions, fertilizer should be applied twice per month at weak strength.

What works for me with mold is wash the cutting with a 10% bleach solution. So that's 1 measure of bleach with 9 measures of water. I let it dry off without rinsing. I think using sphagnum moss as a rooting medium can also inhibit some mold. Not perfect, I have also heard of moldy sphagnum I've rooted in seed-starting medium which is peatmoss and vermiculite. That seems to stay free of mold.

Thermapen is not the right piece of gear if you want to check an oven temp. It is designed to be inserted into food. I have one, but have only had it since late last year so no comment on durability yet, though it seems well built. It is VERY accurate, 207.5F for boil, which is what it ought to be at my altitude and I get a solid reading out of it within a couple seconds. So, so far I am happy with it. Yet I still miss my old Polder, a two piece affair with a probe designed to be left in the food while cooking and a remote display and alarm that you could set to go off when the food had reached the proper temp. It was a degree or so off, but no big deal, and it was convenient to shove it in the bird and walk away, knowing the alarm would go off when it was time to pull dinner out of the oven. I melted the probe lead using it in my BBQ and haven't replaced it, but I probably will. Some cooking chores are better accomplished with the Polder Alarm setup than having to use a one-shot, hand-held, device like the Thermapen.

You can grow anything in a container if you go about it the right way!! I'd check out potato grow bags. These are a lightweight woven plastic container, tall enough to allow layering the soil as one should do with potatoes as they grow to increase tuber production and with access panels at the base to make harvesting easy without overly disturbing the plants. These are inexpensive and last for several seasons. And you can grow any kind of taters in them :-)) Also called Smart Pots, these are available for a variety of different edibles, including strawberries and tomatoes.