There is a mountain of information on the net. Seek out some complete culture notes that relate to your climate zone that will add to the good advice in the post above. Here is one set, that in the USA would relate to a climate similar to that of say San Diego. You can also put Phalaenopsis in the search box on top of the discussions page to read past posts about this orchid. Phalaenopsis Culture These notes relate to Phalaenopsis culture in the Sydney area. These orchids cannot be grown outside in the yard or in a shade-house because winter minimum temperatures are too low and some summer maximum temperatures are too high. These temperature problems plus low humidity mean that special housing to meet Phalaenopsis needs is required, or the plants should be grown inside your home. Culture within the home Finding the place to put the plant. Your plant needs bright light, humidity levels of about 60% and temperatures where both you and the plant will be comfortable. That rules out one place that is often suggested, the bathroom. Another place that is a not good is one of those small closed in sunrooms where dry winter air is heated and the humidity levels are too low. My plants are on the windowsill of a large airy kitchen. Winter temperatures range from 12C to 18C each day and a fibreglass blind protects the plants from all but a few hours of gentle sun in winter. Do not expose the plant to harsh direct sunlight because the leaves of the plant will burn. Early morning sun is best, but late afternoon sun is also OK provided it is screened as described above. Humidity Some people recommend spraying the plants with water every day to raise humidity. This is not necessary because the humidity level in most homes is about 60%. You may wish to place the plant on a humidity tray containing pebbles and water. This is not necessary either, but will not cause harm, provided the bottom of the pot is not sitting in water. Watering Frequency depends on the potting material and the atmosphere in the house but as a general guide once a week in winter grading to two or three times a week in summer. Potting material should be kept moist but not sopping wet. Fertilizing Use complete liquid fertilizer with every third watering, but only at half the prescribed strength. Wet the foliage as well. Repotting Every two years in late spring. Use specially prepared orchid bark, not Cymbidium mix. Try not to disturb the roots too much and just replace some of the older bark. Do not be in hurry to put in plant in a larger pot, because like most orchids, the plants seem to do better in a slightly pot-bound condition. Do not worry about some roots growing outside the pot. That is a good sign. Treatment of flowering stem When the flowers are nearly finished, you can cut the stem off just below the lowest flower and the plant may produce a new flowering shoot from the node just below the cut. BUT, note that most experienced growers cut the stem off at the base so the plant will put all its energy into growing new leaves, and therefore will produce better flowers next time. Making the plant flower The plant should produce a new flowering stem in late autumn as the temperatures drop. Some growers induce flowering by watering the plant with Epsom salts (Magnesium Sulfate) once a week several times in autumn. The amount of Epsom salts required is one tablespoon full in a bucket of water. Pests and diseases Your plant should remain pest and disease free in the home environment. Fungal disease which shows up as black spots on the leaves is a symptom of over-watering, cut back on the watering a bit and seek help from a nursery or garden centre if the problem persists.

I find Mike's link to be useful, about epsom is ONLY best used in high-crop production, such as tomatoes on old soil: Here's a paragraph from Mike's link: "Excessive levels of potassium contribute to a mineral imbalance that causes magnesium deficiency in a variety of species, even when soil levels of Mg are adequate. High levels of soil potassium apparently interfere with root uptake of recommended to overcome this indirect magnesium deficiency; trees high in nitrogen were found to be less susceptible to magnesium deficiency than those with reduced nitrogen levels." My clay soil tested very high in potassium, next is phosphorus, and least is nitrogen. Plants short on potassium are more prone to fungal diseases. I have zero blackspots on roses, but have problems with magnesium deficiency esp. in my tomatoes, grown in the same bed for 12 years. Fifteen years ago my other garden had a different soil: no clay, just good black dirt high in nitrogen. We never had to fertilize the lawn, everything was green, but I had the worse blackspot on my roses. I have never used epsom salt on my tomato, but last year when I mixed bagged cow manure in, we had a bumper crop of tomato. This year I didn't do that, and we have the worse crop of tomato and very small fruits. I'll do an experiment next year growing tomatoes in 2 different pots, water one with epsom salt, and let's see if the fruits get bigger.

My grandmother, who taught me most of what I know about gardening, put a tsp. into her watering can (2 gallons) every time she watered her flowers. I usually use a tsp per gallon once a month on my blooming plants, and on plants that are looking poorly. I don't want to start the "Epsom salts doesn't make roots grow" argument, so I won't go into what I was taught in college or told by the FL extension service guy, but I know that if plants' roots in Florida hit hardpan and start looking poorly, putting a cup of ES around them seems to help a lot. This is especially true for gardenias, for some reason.

About soil tests......if you have never had one it is not a bad idea to get one done just to see what you are working with. That is the only way you can determine if you have any nutrient deficiencies you need to address. (caveat: home test kits are pretty much worthless - pay the bucks and have a professional lab prepare the test). You don't do multiple tests around the property. You gather soil from a variety of areas (your prime planting areas) and mix it together in a single sample. Most labs will tell you how to prepare the test sample and will ask what you are growing - crops, lawn, ornamentals. That will help them customize your test results. Once you get the results back, they will tell you your current nutrient load and if you need to amend at all. Generally, the only addition recommended will be nitrogen as that is the most mobile and transitory of the primary plant nutrients and the one most often lacking. And adding organic matter - compost - is the easiest and one of the most environmentally friendly ways to add nitrogen to an existing garden. Additionally, compost provides a full range of other nutrients in a low dose, organic process that encourages a healthy soil biology and discourages leaching into groundwater as one encounters with synthetic nutrients (from chemical fertilizers). Compost also improves soil structure, loosening heavy or clay soils, improving drainage and adding a degree of moisture retention to very sandy soils. If used as a mulch it will supress weed development, reduce evaporation of soil moisture and provide insulating capacities. It does however make a rather fertile seed bed for windblown weed seeds so some monitoring is required. I guess you are all going to do what you are going to do but fwiw, there is NO scientific evidence that dosing plants with epsom salts/magnesium sulfate encourages blooming. There is absolutely nothing in the product that affects a plant's biological inclination to bloom or not to bloom. Understanding how necessary plant nutrients work - or don't work - would go a long way in dispelling some of these myths about "miracle" fertilizers (ie. MiracleGro and its cousins) and other miraculous plant potions.