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

It sounds like you have a tender heart for living things. You should not feel guilty for kidnapping the plant, because you did not kidnap it, you rescued it from certain death. Now you want to sentence it to death again. That would make you feel even more guilty. Can you live with that? But if as suggested above you make an attempt to find the owners and explain to them that you saw the plant and knew the weather was taking a turn for the worst and brought it in to keep it warm, and the owners reply, then you'll feel better. If they don't reply, then you'll feel even more better, because you can care for the plant with a clear conscience. And just think, if it survives for you all winter, you can put it back outside in the same place next summer and see what happens.

As Richard said, new leaves will come from the center of the plant. One day a tiny speck will appear there and start growing. Phals put out maybe three leaves a year, with good light and good care, a new leaf might appear in a couple of months. Growth is much faster in spring-summer than in winter. When you water, make sure the center (called the crown) stays dry If water gets into the crown, roll up the corner of a paper napkin and wick the water out. I agree with the others that reading up on phal care is a good idea. For free tip sheets on care for phals, check out the Canadian Orchid Congress and the American Orchid Society websites. Look for cutlure sheets for phalaenopsis. Good culture notes for beginning indoor growers are also available at BigLeaf Orchids. Click "information" tab across the top.

Why are you trying to transform a beautiful, mature beech maple deciduous forest into a conifer forest? Norway spruce is not native and I consider it a weed. Not only will it and the spruce suffer in the shade, if they do grow they will shade out any understory shrubs, forest floor flowers and new beech/maple seedlings. If you want a conifer forest, I suggest you start from scratch with an open field or meadow. Plant it with native pine, fir and spruce seedlings; in full sun they will grow quickly. If you are in zone 4, there should be native conifers, check the USDA plant database (link below) for various conifers (spruce, pine, cedar, tamarack) and see if the map includes where you live. Local conservation organizations and muncipalities often provide low cost tree seedlings to property owners, often only cents per tree. Here is a link that might be useful: Plants Data base