When you say "regular orchid mix" what do you mean exactly? There are at least five different forms of standard orchid compost and yes, some may not be suitable for your plant. I have two jewel orchids ( Macodes and Ludisia ) which I have had for several years. Both flower as well as having nice leaves. I would not use "soil" of any description for these plants. Both of mine are in fine bark with a little sphagnum moss and charcoal to keep the compost "sweet". The main thing, apart from a fairly warm temp. is not to overwater.

Jennie, you need to paragraph your writing more. It makes it easier to read and comprehend. Some of your questions are not getting answered probably because people lose track of them in the thicket of sentences in the middle of your post. DON'T cut the dried up looking roots. They aren't necessarily dead, just desiccated, and they will rehydrate in water. Give the plant a half-hour soak in some water with a drop of Ivory Liquid and 1/4 strength fertilizer solution. When you cut a root, the wound gives bad things a chance to get into the plant. You don't want to do this til you have more skill and experience. Don't cut any root unless its dead, ie rotten and mushy, and slips right off, leaving a string.. You don't need the inserts. As Jane said, any plain plastic or clay (unglazed) pot will do. Just be sure it fits the roots instead of being too big. DON'T USE LIME ON ORCHIDS. Orchid roots are specialized to take up minute amount of nutrients and chemicals that some garden plants can take will kill them. Yes, orchids can get root-bound, but they are always making new roots, and roots can survive in the air (where they grow in nature), so people don't get too uptight about it. If you can't get Phsan 20, plain old hydrogen peroxide, the kind you get in a drug or grocery store can be used. Use about a couple of tablespoons/gallon of water. I have used peroxide on orchids many times. It doesn't harm them, even full strength. The gnats are coming from too wet soil, or they're in the medium. Be sure the soil isn't too wet whenever you see them. When I see them, I take it as a sign I am watering too often, and need to hold back more. They may be in the old medium your plants came in. Your south-sun French door location sounds perfect for them to me. You have to remember that the plant may not be ailing because of anything you did. You repotted because it was ailing--remember? So the bad thing that happened to it wasn't done by you. Besides, you're not an expert til you've killed at least 100 orchids. Just relax, you'll get the hang of it. If your plant doesn't make it, join the club. I'm still killing some after four years. I urgently recommend you read up on phal culture. You can find tons of information on the internet. Some of your questions suggest to me, you need some basic reading under your belt. I also would re-double my suggestion that since you have some sphag, sphag in clay works well to *re-root* ailing orchids. good luck

Hardwood bark/mulch and sapwood/heartwood of hardwood or pine break down too quickly, so N immobilization is always a problem, along with premature structural collapse of the soil. The rapid decomposition of the hardwood also generates a considerable amount of heat (like a hot compost pile) and can be an issue in that regard as well. There is also usually a considerable upward spike in pH when hardwood bark/mulch. This is what the bark products I use in the gritty mix look like: The bark at 3, 6, and 9 would need to be screened over 1/8" screen to remove the fines. The white fir bark at the top is available in some places prescreened in a 1/8-1/4" size, which is ideal. The soil in the middle is the 5:1:1 mix when it's dry. There really is no substitute for conifer bark, other than a different species of conifer (fir, hemlock, redwood, pine bark are all suitable). There really is no issue if using screened Turface:bark, 2:1, except maybe more water retention than you want/need. Turface and bark will hold a LOT of water. The purpose of the granite is to add adjustability (for water retention) to the soil. If you want to maximize longevity and aeration, soils that have a small organic component - less than 1/3 of the soil, are best. If you have a 2/3 (of the o/a volume) Turface component, your water retention is what it is - considerable, with no adjustment; but, include whatever fraction of granite you wish to fine tune, and you have a very wide range of adjustability. Al

There are lots of things that can can make your cabbage not grow. Whatever the problem is, it may or may not be related to the white stuff. My hunch is that the marshmallows are fungus and not the problem. Could you possibly post a picture of what you've found? It sounds like a wood-rotting fungus that breaks down old organic matter in the ground which actually releases nutrients back into the soil. I can't really think of any type of plant pathogen that grows underground the way you've described but a picture might trigger something I've forgotten.