Hello Bolo. Just to complicate your life, might I quote a portion of a recent post titled "Quick fix for water retention", to wit: "I recently repotted my phal in a Schultz brand orchid mix  itÂs composed of bits of charcoal, clay, etc. IÂd hoped it would prevent overwatering and the mould problems present in the moss it lived in for a year. Unfortunately, the water retention of this mix is terrible, as the water runs through it so quickly that nothing is maintained for the plant. The leaves have become wrinkled and wilted,..." Bark is not magic, moss is not magic, nothing is magic, anything you decide to use as a potting mix needs to be given the proper amount of light, air circulation and watering and most of us find (whether we know it or not) that when proper amounts of light, air circulation, humidity, etc. are supplied it just doesn't @#$$%! matter what you put in the pot as a substrate to hold your orchid in an upright position. Perhaps I have overstated things a tad to make a point but only a little. So my point isn't to tell you not to use a bark mix, I do (ammended with sphag moss) for some things. I am saying that different potting products have different physical properties and regional availabilities that determine how appropriate they ultimately will be for your uses and should be considered on those standpoints than a knee jerk consideration of water retention because ultimately a degree of water retention is often a good thing. If you have an average sized phal in an average sized plastic pot (~6") and you are seeing signs of overwatering you might conclude that a bark mix would solve your problem. WRONG. Or more accurately 'not quite'. Yes the faster drying bark mix would fix the most immediate signs of overwatering but chances are the phal was underlit to begin with and is still underlit even though its drying cycle is now closer to 7 days than the 10+ days when it was in sphag. Ultimately it is the being chronically underlit situation that will prove detrimental although it can take many months to discover this. H

Thanks for the advice. I'm still trying to find a place for the orchid outdoors. There doesn't seem to be anywhere outside that doesn't get direct sunlight for hours at a time. Fortunately, I don't have any slugs outside (eww), and I have many potted plants outside that seem to be bug free for an occasional spider, so I moved the orchid around. For a while, it was on a gravel path. But, as I said I don't even know where to keep it outside, so it goes in and out throughout the day. I will also look for something to raise it up on once I find a place outside. Jane, that would be great if it would spike! Sarah

My Cymbidiums spend the summer outdoors, they stay out till about the end of October, the last month under shelter but still outdoors. They're then moved to a cool greenhouse for the winter (has gone down to 38 degrees), some like Green Cascade have bloomed around Christmas.

dsstroud, unfortunately, they are a deciduous tree and very messy. They will also get HUGE if you let them. You can't change the nature of the tree, so either change your attitude or chop it down. Not being smart, just that's your only choice. That reminds me of a story of when I was working at a garden center. A woman called and said that the tree we had sold her was dead. My boss went out and it was indeed leafless, but then, all Jacarandas are leafless in the winter. He tried to explain to her that it was deciduous and would come back out and bloom in the spring, but she was all upset and made him dig it up, so he brought it back, cleaned up the roots, stuck it into another pot, and resold it. Then there was the woman who walked in and said she wanted a bush that bloomed all year, only got 4 feet tall and never had to be pruned. I told her the silk flower and plant store was about 3 miles down the road. She didn't like things that grew out of control, and said very haughtily that she refused to prune anything. I told her that this is Florida, everything grows out of control here, and she needed to just buy what she liked and hire a gardener.