Temperature, humidy and dormant phal

[- i m p]

Hello,
I'm relatively new to caring for orchids. I creep this forum quite often because it is so helpful.
I have a couple of questions.
I keep my Phal collection on a table by a south facing window with the blinds partially drawn. All the leaves on the Phals seem a dark to bright green colour so I assume the light is adequate. However, it is winter here and I'm thinking the window is too drafty for the orchids. I can feel cold whenever I approch the orchids. Can anyone comment in this?

Also! I wanted to ask about humidity. I don't use a sprayer because I'm scared of fungal infection. I've recently bought a bag of pebbles for the orchids. I have put some pebbles in the bottom of their clay pots and added water (not enough to touch the roots) and set the orchids in their plastic pots on top. Is this an adequate practice? Or would an actual tray work better.

One more question. My oldest Phal was blooming last summer and has seemed to be dormant ever since. I cut the blooming stem down after it was all done blooming and the Phal has since failed to grow a new stem. It has grown a new leaf since, but the old stem seems dead. The roots look healthy as far as I can tell. Is there any way to encourage my Phal to grow another stem and get blooming again?

Thanks for your help in advance. This is a lot of qestions!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Let me try and answer your questions.

1. If you feel cold air, but it isn't below 50 degrees, then it shouldn't be a problem. Regarding light - just because a plant has enough light to grow a leaf, it may not be getting enough light to actually bloom. 9 out of 10 times, lack of light is what keeps a mature orchid from blooming.
2. Get a tray. Put the rocks in the tray and fill with water to the top of the rocks. Then set the orchids close together on the rocks. No water should go into the pots.
3. Maybe this phal needs to cool down to get it to spike again. Some do. Move it closer to your window where you get the cool air (as long as the plant doesn't get below 50 degrees - it will be fine.)
cheers,
BD

[dougroc]

I used to grow my orchids on a window sill I put my room humidifier on the floor right by the window. This seemed to raise the humidity about 10% in the area of the windowsill. The only problem is that dew would form on the windows in really cold weather.