Wow, great video.

Having grown orchids in NY for many years, I share your problems with humidity and moisture. I'd like to make a few comments, not sure where to begin.

First of all, you are doing a great job. Your plants look fantastic and healthy.

I'll offer some observations as someone who grew the same plants as yours with success and learned through trial and error. It is definitely difficult getting blooms in a cold climate with poor light.

I live in Florida now for a few years and had to change my methods which has taken me about 3 years, again through trial and error. Totally different growing environment.

Your treatment of your Catts is exactly what I did over winter in NY. I called it their 'winter coats' and it worked well. I removed the sphag in Spring and all my orchids summered outside in NY. I only used the winter coats when the humidity dropped to a point where I could no longer maintain humidity around the roots. I did use vaporizers and found they worked better than humidifiers. I had numerous vaporizers (cheap) and they spewed steam all over my planting areas indoors.

I did not use a thick coat of sphag on my Catts. I used a light sprinkling of sphag over the surface. I would be careful putting it too thick as the roots need air circulation. I always let the sphag dry out and get crunchy before spritzing. I did not water, I sprayed the surface of the sphag with a spritzer.

I also used supplemental lights. I used inexpensive floor lamps (octopus type) with cheap CFL's to shine over the Catts and Dends. I did not cover my windows in winter. I gave them as much light as possible in winter. I had large, floor to ceiling windows facing SW. Lots of sun but less in winter.

I would recommend removing the window film. Not necessary. Catts are high light plants and naturally grow in full sun. If you want that new growth to produce flowers, you need to increase the light and the length of light. Get a few CFL's and shine them for about 6 hours after sundown.

I would not repot any orchid in November. If your Catt produces new roots in November then it is safe to repot. If no new growth is evident, I would always wait until spring. I do not worry about old pseudobulbs wrinkling. But you certainly did a good job getting them to plump up!

The best time to repot is Spring. Spring gives you more warmth, humidity and longer daylight hours which promote growth. Plants come alive in early spring. Some Catts, spring/summer bloomers will make growth over winter if conditions are good. Your Catt with the new growths is probably a summer bloomer and your good care is allowing it to grow.

Phals can take a lot of light. Not direct sunlight but very bright conditions. Phals can produce double spikes as they mature but some hybrids will produce double spikes even when very young. They usually begin to spike with temperature drops in fall and winter. I have some Phals which are all flowering or still in spike. They are gown under a light shade cloth in a south/west exposure. No damage to the leaves and great blooming. Again, Phals can take good, bright light. I would remove the window film and just move the plants back a bit so the direct sun does not hit the leaves.

Fertilize the Catt with the new growth to make sure that new growth is strong and healthy. But that new growth needs good light to flower. Please remove the window film and don't close the shades in the daytime.

Its important to learn where your orchids evolved and their background. You have to mimic their natural environment to succeed. Although they might grow and stay alive, the main focus for all of us is to have them bloom! That new growth needs strong light. Also, be careful of your watering. Let them dry out between watering. The dry root on the Phal is no concern. Its an old root and Phals have loads of them. The roots you need to watch are the new green roots. You have plenty of those and your Phal is happy. They grey root has nothing to do with light. Humidity will dry some older roots. Don't worry.

Good growing!

Jane

Well written Jane!. Great advice.

A couple of things:

I still grow indoors over winter in Ohio and I would consider LED flood light(s) (@18"-24" above) instead of CFL(s) (@8"-12" above), LEDs are more expensive initially but are cooler running and cheaper (last forever and use less electricity) in the long run. Also if possible, I would run the light 13-16 hours a day and not just after dark. In my opinion you really can't put too much light on a catt when it is sitting in front of a window, especially over winter.

I've never experienced a phal losing aerial roots because of too much light, but with one branching spike and another spike starting, I'd say it is getting just about the right light.

Good job,

Bob

Wow, that's an incredible phal, good growin! I never thought it possible to plump shriveled psbs. on a Cattleya. As others have said to bloom these catts, you'll need lots more light. I'll look forward to seeing your blooms when those phal buds unfurl!

Good mention, Bob. I was hoping others would comment.

LED's weren't around when I was growing indoors. I'm sure I would have graduated to them. I did try grow lights but didn't find any difference and the cost was too much.I had multiple floor lamps and clip on shop lights.

I was growing so many plants indoors that using CFL's was the cheapest way to go.

I also agree about running the lights for 15-18 hrs. I did also but didn't want to scare the OP from giving it a try. I used timers to turn them on and off.

I had large windows and my neighbors thought I was growing pot in my living room! Another said it looked like an airport runway from the street!

Jane

Jane, we used to have lots of comments about being concerned that police would raid their home because of all the lights.

Lol! I'm surprised it didn't happen to me.

Jane

Anytime a new neighbor moves in nearby, I like to casually mention that I grow orchids indoors under lights, just so they don' think otherwise :) No pot cops yet!

A little off-target but I'm feeling verbose this morning: I use a pre-mixed orchiata medium for 90% of my potted collection and I don't top dress with spagh. IMO humidity is not that critical as long as you are watering correctly. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could maintain 50-70% humidity in the grow room, but for me that's usually not possible and I have to get by on 30-50% most of the time. As far as watering, I water everything (@120 varied genre orchids) once a week, 10-12 phrags, bulbos and 'chillums (sitting in water trays) twice a week and I mist my 8-9 mounted/bare-root orchids at least once per day. If I have the fireplace roaring, I mist everything a couple of times a day and still can't get humidity to stay much above 30%.

Even though it is a hassle, I enjoy my orchids in winter more than other times of the year. On a grey winter day I enjoy sitting in the grow room 'absorbing' the light and fiddling with the 'kids. Also, I have more blooming activity over winter than I do the rest of the year. That said, come May I will be looking forward to getting most of the collection outside for 4-5 months where it is much simpler to care for them and they seem to thrive.

Bob