| Try using a bamboo skewer to test for when to water. You can get a whole pack for less than a buck at the grocery store. When you pull it out and it is dry - water. Personally I find sphag difficult to manage - plants I have purchased with this media often have it packed into the pots tighter than concrete - but I know some people love it. If you don't know what you are doing it can be a real problem for root rot - primarily for the reason that you are noting - dry on top and still wet on the bottom - so, people water and the roots at the bottom end up wet all the time and eventually rot. Overwatering is your phals worst nightmare - when in doubt wait a few days. |