It looks to me like an Oncidium intergeneric hybrid (like Beallara, for one). Or just straight out Oncidium. These definitely like more light than Phals. Mine respiked in a south window, right up against the windowsill, with a white mesh curtain in the window. However, the buds blasted (probably my fault - underwatering). I'll give it one more year in that spot to see if it will bloom again. If it doesn't, or is lackluster, it will start spending summers outside. Point being, it grows well enough in my south facing window, but while it did spike, it left something to be desired. I'm hoping it was my fault, but I'm suspecting it wants more light, as the spike was very small, with only three buds, compared to the 12 or so flowers it had when I got it the year before. Did you cut off the wrinkled leaves on this one? I don't really think you need to, unless they'd gone brown and dried out. Wrinkled or not, it still uses those leaves for energy, as long as they're still green. I have wrinkled leaves too. They just look, well... somewhat embarrassing, banners in the wind proclaiming, look, I've been underwatered! But they're still growing and useful. My focus isn't Oncidium types, but this is my experience with the few I have. Two are in south windows, one is in a very bright west window. Your Phal will probably enjoy the east window, but I suspect it won't be enough for the Oncidium type.

Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulfate) and Orchids Orchids need a variety of trace minerals, one of which is magnesium. Magnesium Sulfate is essential for the manufacture of chlorophyll, and using Magnesium sulfate will produce a more robust plant. One study previously posted on the orchid forum in 2002/2003, found adding Epsom salts does not make any difference in the size of flowers produced, but in an experiment the use of Epsom salts brought seedlings to maturity and flowering faster than those which were not provided with magnesium sulfate in the form of Epsom salts. A variety of frequency and amounts of Epsom salts has been suggested for orchid growers. Mr. Bert Pressman, in an article entitled Care and Feeding of Orchids suggests using ½ teaspoon per gallon every time the plant is watered. Other advice offered here for phal growers has been 1 tablespoon per gallon, four times a year, or the same rate in the water during September and October (early fall) to assist in the budding of the plants. Some orchid fertilizers contain Magnesium, such as Peters Cal-Mag fertilizer (2% Magnesium 5% calcium with a regular 15-5-15 N P K fertilizer, and the Dyna-gro lines Mag-Pro which are available in the U.S. Check the list of minerals to determine if the fertilizer you are using contains Magnesium. Epsom Salts diluted in water offer the same ingredient for much less cost, but some may prefer the other products for ease of use if nothing else. Epsom salts are inexpensive and can be found at discount stores, drug stores, grocery stores, among other places, in the first aid depts.. Yesit is the same stuff you use for soaks!

Yea defitnatly those are flower spikes or keikeis , what ever you do don't let that crown rot ,so I would beware of spagnum and coir as they hold to much moisture .and block out air , A dry bark mix with perlite or sponge rock and charcoal kept moist in a humid environment with good air circulation .would suffice if wanting to pot up regularly . But to cover all basis I will simply use a mixture of spagnum moss and a bark mixture as mention before mixed together and moistened with water and diluted fertilizer , lay media down in a rectangular fixture kind of like a small terrarium and then lay the orchid on top of moist media cover it making sure the top have vent holes mist every now and then and then allow a small fan to circulate and blow directly on low . That would be the perfect scenario . if you don't have neither main thing is air circulation , I've reached this point and failed due to rot and not enough air circulation . Lay media out on tray spag n bark mix keep moist and lay phal down on top , is all it need in a well ventilated area with moderate indirect sun light. Good luck .

I think it depends on the growth climate, type of orchid (even within genus), and your water type. I tried semi-hydro for phal hybrids, Phal pulchra, NOID Brassocattleya, Masdevallia vetchiana. Masdevallia got split in half between sphagnum and LECA semi-hydro, was grown next to each other, then semi-hydro half died in 1m, sphagnum one thrived. Brassocattleya was a rescue, didn't grow roots well in sphagnum, got transferred to LECA semi-hydro, then lost one of its 3 stems and all the roots. It grew some stems and roots back in bark mix, and is now doing ok. Phal pulchra did well in semi-hydro for 3 years, but only flowered twice in that time, so I sold it this year. I have a phal hybrid that had two stems, that I then separated, so I decided to put one in std bark/perlite/sphagnum mix, the other one in LECA semi-hydro. I wanted to test this out on non-species phal before putting all my other hybrids on LECA. Weeeeell, 2 years later, my bark phal half has twice the number of leaves, roots, and flowered twice this year, vs my puny semi-hydro half flowering only once this year and loosing flowers sooner. So I think I'll stop torturing my second Phal Hybrid, repot it into bark like its brother, and close this semi-hydro experiment. I live in Seattle, with 20-40% indoor humidity, with all my orchids living indoor on windowsills, with forced air heating. I water my bark mix phals every week or so, when they are either dry or approach dryness.