I put my plants outside while on vacation so they would get regularly watered while out of the way of the construction crew who was here. ALL my phals got terribly sunburned and knocked over by squirrels. They are surviving, but look awful.

Also, one of the pseudobulbs of my only Milt totally rotted out. The other p-bulbs are limping along, but I am pessimistic about the long term viability :(

I can't count how many spikes I've broken prying open leaves looking for spikes.

When I ws starting out I put a Phal outside in full sun on a 90 degree day. In a few hours it turned completely white like a fossil.

I built a shelf in my sunroom and loaded it with plants. Overnight the bracket pulled out of the wall and dumped everything on top of the plants that were on the floor below.

I won a lovely Masdevallia imposter at our orchid society auction this summer. Adding that one to the mix made room on the windowsill a bit tight. I came up with the BRILLIANT idea to use clear plastic suction cup soap dishes on the window itself to make some room on the sill. I put the imposter and my Masdevallia discoidea on the dishes, maybe two inches up the glass on the open window. Room enough for everyone to get some light and air, etc (the window faces north and never gets full sun).

I'm still not 100% sure what went wrong, I am assuming I fried it, but a week later, the imposter dropped every single leaf over two days, and the discoidea lost more than 50% of its leaves. It could have been the temps, it was in the 90s that week, but I'll never stick an orchid to my window again!

Although I have broken many spikes and knocked over countless pots, I remember my first spike break. A year or so in to colecting, i bought a Phalaenopsis equestris seedling. I was so proud of my first species purchase. It took 3.5 years to spike. Upon noticing the long awaited spike, I promptly snapped the spike turnin the pot to get a better look...

I am a phal killer. About 8 in the past 15 years. I did buy a new one 2 years ago ('Golden Embers') and I'll be darned if it's still alive and has bloomed each year so far. I believe my problem has been over watering. This one came in a clear pot so I can easily see when she gets dry and it's time to water. THAT is the key for me.

Thanks everyone for sharing. I guess everyone makes mistakes!

(btw, after reading my post, I didn't mean phrag kovachii I meant a phrag kovachii hybrid, if I every did that to a kovachii...)