It looks like you do have roots coming from some of the leaf nodes already. They are very easy to get going, bearing in mind they are tropicals and need warmth and humidity. They also like good bright light but better if it's only filtered sun and not direct. They're an epiphyte and normally grow up trees. Roots do go down the tree to the ground but stay near the surface. If you bury the stem and roots they usually rot. As a vine they get very long, as in reaching the tops of tall trees. Some people grow them indoors and curl the stems back down, as you would with Hoyas. The stems are a bit more brittle than Hoyas, so more easily broken off if bent too much. The aquarium is an ideal situation in your circumstances, but the down side is the size (length) the plant will get to. Taking it outdoors in warm summer weather would be good for it. Cold weather will do it in very quickly, it would be long dead before the temperature got down any where near freezing point. In a cold climate it's doubtful you'd ever get flowers, it'd be near impossible to juggle the right temperature and humidity for long enough. But with a bit of care you could certainly keep it growing and just keep cutting it back to size when it gets too big. And any off cuts will become a new plant quite easily.

[another hijack] Jane and all, regarding salts and R/O, a couple things: a lot of those salts we remove from the water are a primary source of nutrition for the plant, calcium and magnesium especially. Quite coincidentally those are what make hard water...hard. Availability of those nutrients and how !!!soluble!!! they are depends on the pH of the soil and water, and to a much lesser extent, the temperature. For the salts we deal with, hard water=pH is alkaline/basic/greater than 7.0=salts are less soluble and more likely to build up. Temps, to a much lesser extent: high temps=more energy available to break bonds between ions in a salt. Reducing salts is one side effect of watering with lukewarm water. Far from the primary reason, but its a part of it. Try dissolving table salt in a cup of hot water, then try dissolving salt in ice cold water. You'll find that you can dissolve more salt in the hot water than the cold. Back to the point: We make a fuss about salts because often times theres simply too much of the insolubles (a result of alkalinity + quanitity in water) and it builds up and overloads the plant: salt damage. When watering only with R/O, what happens is that R/O water has absolutely no nutrient value in the slightest (being pure and all). Watering only with this nutrient-free R/O water without ever supplementing with fertilizer will eventually cause your plants to develop nutrient deficiencies. Since you supplement with rain water, jane, which does contain some salts-read, nutrients-I suspect you are buffered from the ill effects. A quick and very helpful note: the majority of salt damage you see can be traced back to keeping the plant too dry. As the water disappears from the soil, the salts in the soil begin to concentrate more and more in what little water is left. Its like 1 TBS salt : 1 gallon of water :: 1TBS salt : 1 cup of water...which is gonna be more salty tasting? The plant takes up this concentrated salt water as the soil dries, and salt damage is the result. If anyone has tried to grow Dracaena warneckii and had lots of issues with black margins, this is most likely the problem you had. As I write this, it actually makes me wonder if a lot of the salt damage issues people have with phrags aren't because they aren't keeping up with their high water demands. I've had a few phrags and while they never did well for me, I never had salt issues and I know I was watering with bad water. Hope this clarifies some stuff! It really was only a paragraph initially-the middle one, but quickly became this long post as i began to think/type aloud:) [/hijack]

I have a Phal I am pretty sure. I actually meant fir bark, and I did a quick google search and saw it was recommended for orchids. I got it like a month ago and it was doing well and all the flowers were out, more were growing too and getting larger.. but all of a sudden a few of the larger petals started falling off so it worried me. Also, all of the large green leaves go strait down over the container it is in. I still have it in the pot I bought it with. I took a look at the roots at the bottom and they are coming out of the drainage holes and are squishy and gross, so I am pretty sure I need to repot it and I am wondering the best substrate to use. I am new to planting and I just started indoor Orchids and succulents.

I doubt that it would. In my experience, gravel or lava rock is about the only thing that stops them probably because it's sharp. The lava rock works really well for me with my potted plants. I guess the same principle as the gravel. I've always used blood meal for newly planted areas. It seems if I can just keep the critters away for the first week or so, they rarely go back and cause serious damage. It is amazing what happens if I don't use it. They will dig out every single plant I put in the ground. It's almost like they watch me and follow right behind with those little claws. A bunch of us are being severely chastised right now on the Orchid Forum for our hatred of these demon spawn. The Squirrel Rights People just never give up. Kevin