Question

Both Plants   Hi.

My boyfriend bought me an orchid last month on Easter. It is a phal. Seeing that it came from a commercial store, I decided it should be repotted even when in bloom. I also noticed one of the leaves is split down the middle. While repotting, I found it did have some root rot, so I cut away as much as I dared without killing the  mix I created. About 2 weeks ago, it started shedding flowers and finally there were only 2 left. I looked online and saw that in order to save the plant, I would have to sacrifie the spikes so I did. I actually rechecked the medium and it was still very moist after not watering it for 2 weeks and the roots looked worse. I decided to remix by adding more bark and repotting it. The medium feels like it should now and I did clip off the 2 spikes.

I bought another phal 2 weeks after I received the first one and after repotting it, I found the root system to be much more stable. About 5 days ago I found 2 of the bottm leaves yellow and expelled from the plant. I saw this as normal, since they were the oldest. Now there is another one that is turning yellow. I kept the window shades open during the day since the house is heavily shaded (as pictured) but after seeing possible signs of too much light, I decided to keep the blinds closed.

Please take a look at the pictures. The medium still feels a little moist for both plants, so I will wait until Sunday or your suggestion on when to water. I also watered the phals, the way I saw it was displayed on youtube. (These are orchid pots with holes)

Mix fertilizer with water and let drain through twice.

Please help!! I must be doing something wrong, since I feel like the plants are fading out from under me. I took a whole bunch of pictures but I am not sure if I can send these in bulk

Answer
Rena, thanks for your questions.  First, mixing new bark with old can be a problem.  When you repot (which you should do), use a fresh fir bark based orchid potting mix.  I have found the fir bark based potting mix hobby bags at both Home Depot and Lowes garden centers. Prior to use, it should be screened to remove the finer particles. Secondly, since the potting mix usually comes as a dry mix, it should be soaked for an hour or more prior to use. All of the old potting mix should be discarded. Don't let anyone try to persuade you to use a moss-based potting mix. The older potting mix that you will be discarding will have decayed somewhat and hence will be more water retentive which prompts root rot.  An orchid potting mix needs to be an "open" mix.  This means it should drain freely and allow air movement to the roots.  When watering, allow the water to run freely through the potting mix and don't allow the pot to stand in water. Feeding an orchid with root problems is of no benefit so wait until you see new root and leaf growth before resuming feeding. Once repotting has occurred, disturb the potting mix as little as possible. When repotting, use a pot just large enough to accommodate the roots.  In the end, you will need to be very patient as your plants will need plenty of recovery time.