The link doesn't work, but I think you are talking about Phalaenopsis orchids. Ignore the plant on the LHS.... is the form of the leaves similar to these?
{{gwi:2119264}}

Are these yours Arthur? They are absolutely beautiful!!

Tanie

No! They belong to members of a local orchid Society where I am the general Dogsbody.
These guys have Phalaenopsis Houses (Glass-Houses) set for Phalaenopsis growing conditions.

Yes - that's the type it is. I just realized that I can upload a photo here. Here are some I just took.

another pic

The plant is not happy! Perhaps not enough light and the leaves at the rear of the plant are dehydrated.
Perhaps the leaves looked like that before your rescue, what sort of temps are you getting in that spot?
Phalaenopsis are warm growing narrow temperature range orchids 60 to 90F.
Anyway, some real orchid growers who live in the frozen north will give you good advice.

Right. I haven't done anything with it since getting it because I don't know enough about potting an orchid to have wanted to mess with it and kill it. Not sure what type of pot I should get or moss or bark or where to get all this. Home Depot is close to me, not sure if they have garden stuff in the winter.

The temp is pretty consistent 70-74 in here, a bit cooler in the winter. It's pretty dry in the winter - don't want to be watering too much so what is a good way to keep up the moisture?

anytime you go to a store that sells them in a pot with bark crippling the roots or moss cementing the respiration food holes in the air roots, buy them and take them outa their pots, let them air, you have rescued the orchid. misting them is all the water they need. moss is kind of like lichen it'll kinda cement their feeding holes in their roots shut when you are trying too hard and spending too much money on the orchid, it's doomed. fertilizers build up, eventually killing phal orchids. they like air, light, humidity and pretty much sustain on a regular mist, outa a pot. their roots photosynthesize. now, i could err like anyone else and mine might die, but the thing is an air plant. it just requires humidity, a decent amount of time to dry out, with humidity. basically you could flatulate on the thing and it's better for it than a pot and sharp bark, it's food isn't dirt it is air quality, gases in the air, bluntly, decomposition close by is an orchid's friend, from cells to things i'd rather not know about, orchids clean the air of some strange things, depending on what it is. there is a lot of life cycle in a rainforest, eventually it equals gassy dirt. that gas rises, humidity carries it contributes to it, it rains they absorb what they can to dry respirate and kind of sweat their pre digested food to digest it. fertilizers mimic it. fertilizers are all that can be provided for the plant to help it eat. there, so it isn't your fault the thing dies, your told by professionals to grow it in a way that decreases the lifespan, because it is quality of the plant not quanity of life that your after. let's face it. we do what we can for it, but in optimum conditions the thing would take over your home for several generations and live around amongst a smell you wouldn't stand to be around for longer than you had to. so we do as instructed and buy the bark, buy the fertilizer apply as instructed and blame the hybridization. be brave and admit it's ok, you bought quality not quanity. personally, I am going to try a few things to get quality and quanity and might post results. I didn't say different was right. pic show the roots and the yellow, segmented roots are what bark and fertilizers did. i rescued this thing, this is how it looked outa the pot day two of having it.

Link to Canadian Orchid Congress Phalaenopsis notes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian orchid congress notes

As unhappy as it is at the moment, you still don't want to mess with it too much right now, so you can enjoy its flowers. It looks like it's in a plastic pot inside of a ceramic pot, which is good. You can either lift the plastic pot out and put it under running water in the sink for a minute or two, or, better: if the outside pot has no holes, fill it to the top with water, and let it soak for 10-15 minutes. Then take the plastic pot out, dump ALL the water, and stick it back in the holding pot. The bark inside will have had a chance to absorb some water, and keep the roots damp for several days (but not soggy wet, which is bad). I do this every 5 days for my orchids, who live similarly to your environment.

Once the flowers are gone, get it out of that pot, cut off any roots that are dry and crunchy, and put it back in the same container with some fresh bark. Water as described above.

Mothorchid and Danielle317, thank you so much for your replies! These helpful comments are exactly what I was hoping to get out of this forum. Thank you for taking the time to teach me.

Do you have any recommendations for where to get fresh bark?

Your Home Depot should have bagged orchid bark mix, but if they don't, you can also buy it on Amazon. For a phalenopsis like this one, you can just use regular bagged mix. General opinion here on this forum is that the Miracle Grow brand isn't preferable, but it's the most popular in these big box stores, so if it's all they have, it's better than nothing.

When you open the bag, there will be pieces of bark, along with large chunks of perlite (white), and charcoal. You can reuse the same plastic pot, because these orchids like to be fairly snug in there. The chunky stuff will allow for air.

Once you get past the 'no dirt' thing, these are surprisingly no-fuss, no-muss plants. You can get a more fancy mix, and you can mess with different kinds of fertilizers, but if you just repot with fresh bark, soak it for 10-15 minutes every 5-7 days, and set it in a bright spot, you'll find that this orchid will thrive pretty easily.

Here is a link that might be useful: An example of bagged orchid bark mix at Amazon.com.

Bloody hell! Your orchid looks great I say given the circumstances! You have 2 out of three. Leaves, check. Spike, check. Only roots to go. Mind can't see them from your photos. My rescued ones (discounted from shops just before eminent doom) looked a lot worse when bought.

Good luck! I am an amateur with loads of reading and somewhat attempts at growing orchids. I have just over ten up North (I recently moved across country and left them with mum) - these I posted about before on the forum (people were great with advise - I had them infected with larvae - but all good now touch wood). I have 5 at my new place (1 vanda) + 4 that I got for my sister.

A few tips (mind you, you don't have to follow them - as each to their own ... my first advise on watering when I bought my first orchid six and a half years ago I no longer follow ... soaking method never worked out):

- orchid leaves are not meant to be a gorgeous deep green (so the books tell us). So maybe a little closer to light. Mind they look good so might not be a must/must. Some of mine are deep colour, but hey ho there is a limited amount of sunshine one can get.

- I read somewhere either a little cold or dark (not sure which) can get the blooms to open faster.

- tight roots in clear plastic pot is good. If you repot it with space they will concentrate on root growth instead of flowering.

- I water mine in bathroom. Once a week as its winter (but only if they dry - patting the bottom of pot if it has holes or checking the colour of roots ... green still moist light green need water). I pour loads of tepid water in the morning all over roots and bark avoiding leaves and crown and let them drain + spray the leaves and roots with special spray.

- I mostly try to avoid ceramic pots (my preference). I like the way roots look in clear pots and I can tell quicker how good they are. I use shallow hand made ceramic bowls or plates instead (+roots have photosynthesis I hear):

https://www.facebook.com/craigeylesceramics?fref=ts

mind you I do also have a few oversized pots (so I can easily lift the plastic ones out).

- repotting I hear needs to be done once in 1 -2 years. In spring or summer ... you don't want your orchid freezing. Don't know about where you live but hey ho nothing works in the garden/ home depot places in the UK. The generic stuff is too dirt based, gets soggy easily and does not drain. I bought some:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orchid-Repotting-Kit-Orchid-Pot-Repotting-Mix-100ml-Orchid-Myst-Instructions-/291328763815?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item43d48c27a7

Well not the kit ... massive bag of the stuff and spray separately. Mind you it ain't the best + quality hit and miss sometimes... but loads better that the garden centres stuff. I am planning to buy the next mix from a proper orchid nursery in Spring. With maybe some charcoal.

If you repotting maybe search youtube ... I found a few helpful videos. If you'd like some tips let me know. It is advised when bought a bad conditioned orchid to repot it straight away (but I'd guess not in winter nor when its blooming unless you cutting off the spike... tends to correspond for phals).

I am not perfect and will never be ... (right temperatures?! in this economy ...). I used to underwater mine ... getting better now. But orchids are the only plants that I had that survived this so I would say they are quite strong.

I do refere to phalaenopsis species. Vandas I have no clue ... panicking like hell for it to not die.

Just came across this post after a quick search for "orchid myst." Has anyone else had success spurring root growth using this product? My rescue phal finally has a few new roots after many months of waiting. Trying to give it every chance for success. I've read that orchids are not great foliar feeders, but if a supplement like this (or anything else) will get those roots growing, I'm willing to explore.