So after my very first phal died last year, I purchased my second one equipped with the knowledge to hopefully do better.

After starting out well and then certainly neglecting it this past winter, it is showing some significant growth the past couple months after I moved it to my office by a window that gets good light and direct light late afternoon.

Take a look and tell me if it looks healthy!

I see roots shooting out all over the base of the plant and I THINK I see something that looks like a spike forming.

I did a poor job of potting this thing last year and as a result, it tipped over quite a few times last winter (especially when kids were around it).A lot of the roots are in the air, but there are a handful of strong looking ones down in the pot as well. Getting all the roots potted in such a way s to keep the thing stable seems to be quite the challenge.

Another thing I'm struggling with is watering routine. I took the pot it came in and drilled many holes in it so that it gets lots of air. I also read that a good sign that these need water is seeing the roots down in the pot go from green to that dull silver/green color. I find that this happens every couple of days so I have been watering it every 2-3 days as it goes silver.

I have yet to fertilize this (or any plants ever really), and I'm eager to do whatever this plant needs to thrive. Any advice on with what and how to fertilize.

Thanks!

Please refer to our sticky/thread here in the Orchid Forums about Supermarket Orchids/Phalaenopsis. I think you'll find it very helpful.
To address a few comments of yours. I repot my Phalaenopsis yearly, they respond well to it. The gray covering to the root is called velamin. It is what allows a Phalaenopsis to "stick" to a tree. As you water, in turns green and then back to gray. Phalaenopsis roots love to wander, pay it no mind.
They just need a bright window, NO direct sun!!
It loves everything from 60-85. Never let it stay dry for too long. Most Orchids are NOT heavy feeders. If this grows in nature in SE Asia, how much food could it possibly get?? The answer is very little. 1/2 strength, 4x a year is plenty!
Welcome to the forums.

BigBill said:Please refer to our sticky/thread here in the Orchid Forums about Supermarket Orchids/Phalaenopsis. I think you'll find it very helpful.
To address a few comments of yours. I repot my Phalaenopsis yearly, they respond well to it. The gray covering to the root is called velamin. It is what allows a Phalaenopsis to "stick" to a tree. As you water, in turns green and then back to gray. Phalaenopsis roots love to wander, pay it no mind.
They just need a bright window, NO direct sun!!
It loves everything from 60-85. Never let it stay dry for too long. Most Orchids are NOT heavy feeders. If this grows in nature in SE Asia, how much food could it possibly get?? The answer is very little. 1/2 strength, 4x a year is plenty!
Welcome to the forums.

So what kind of fertilizer should I use? I think I recall seeing "Orchid Fertilizer" at our local hardware store. So I've read that you can just use a 20-20-20 but I've also watched several videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?...) that shows people using much smaller numbers. Just curious what others recommend.

Also, does that look like a flower spike being produced in one of those pictures. It looks different than the roots that -EXPLODING- out all over the base of the plant.

I've read that some people will try to cut spikes to keep the plant from expending energy if it needs to focus on health/ root growth. I'm curious if I should just let it flower or wait and let all the new roots form.

I made sure to allow it to stay in a somewhat colder room in my house this winter as I read that slightly decreased temperature is one of the things that Phals might need in order to stimulate new flower spikes.

Another thing I've been doing and I'm curious to get input on, is that I have the clear plastic pot it is in kind of stuck into ceramic cup as shown in the pictures. I keep some water in that cup (so not in contact with the plant). I did so unintentionally but then I figured that as the cup heats up, maybe some of that water vapor would rise up into the pot and increase humidity. Not sure if that helps, hurts, or has no effect on the plant.

Thanks!

It is the ratio which plays a role in what you wish to achieve. A 6 6 6 ratio is the same as a 20 20 20 ratio, both are a 1:1: 1 ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.
http://www.horizononline.com/n...

Ursula said:It is the ratio which plays a role in what you wish to achieve. A 6 6 6 ratio is the same as a 20 20 20 ratio, both are a 1:1: 1 ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.
http://www.horizononline.com/n...

Hah, of course. Basic math escapes me from time to time. The video I watched was using a 13-3-15 mixture. which is almost a 3-1-3 Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium. So I assume for orchids, they don't want as much phosphate.

More P is usually associated with more or better blooms, so I would think a 3 1 3 ratio might give you nice green plants with good roots.

Personally I use 20-20-20 at 1/2 tsp per gallon.
I used to use 30-10-10 when I was growing in a fir bark mixture. The theory was back then that the higher nitrogen number 30 was important because as the beasties broke the bark media down they would rob the plant of nitrogen at the same time. Recent research seems to have debunked that!
The idea of a " Blossum Booster" like 10-30-20 every third feeding would increase flower count and frequency. That has been debunked as well. Hence I use 20-20-20.
NEVER leave standing water anywhere near the roots. Orchid growing experts also have debunked the notion of misting plants to increase humidity. Why? Because if your house has low humidity, say 35%, you can't mist enough to significantly change that locally for your orchids! The water vapor you think you are adding to improve humidity instantly gets absorbed by the drier room and house. The water vapor does not hang or hover around the orchids for any length of time.