Maybe put the plant next to your African violets and do a bit of research by putting Phalaenopsis cultivation or Phalaenopsis growing into google to find some complete cultivation notes, look for some that relate to a similar climate to yours in the USA.

There is a lot of information to be found in past posts, try putting Rescue into the search box at the top of this discussion page.

Good luck with your first orchid.

Hi,
IÂve posted this message several times and it has been to shown to work for orchids that are to all intents and purposes dead, ie. have no live roots. Fortunately most orchids are designed to suffer severe stress and are some of the few plants that can survive total root loss.
First you need to think what caused the rot. The commonest cause in cultivation is a build-up of bacteria/ fungus in the compost due to:- too low temperature/not enough light/ lack of ventilation.
The treatment : - you need to cut away ALL the dead tissue with a sterile knife or scissors, wash the whole plant in a mild chlorine or peroxide solution ( no stronger than you would use for a swimming pool for example), then dry with a not too hot hairdryer and place the plant in a fresh, well ventilated place and leave the wounds to recover for 24 hours. There is no need to treat them with anything else*. You must be ruthless in this procedure, however, and be prepared to cut into live tissue. If you leave any infected or moldy part on the plant it will not survive.
Get a large jamjar or small transparent sealable plastic container or similar, quarter fill it with fine gravel and add 2-5 tablespoons of water, not enough to reach the top of the gravel. Sterilize the whole by microwaving for about 2-3 minutes. Don't let the water boil away. When it has cooled, put your plant inside the container (its ICU) and seal the lid. It should fog up. Make sure it is not in contact with any base water.This may seem a lot of faff, but the aim is to prevent re-infection with fungus/bacteria, which occurs very easily. Some people use sphagnum moss, but unless there are live roots, there's not a lot of point. Keep everything very warm and well lit but out of direct sunlight. In a couple of months ( if you are lucky - your plant is critically ill) you will see new roots forming. Some orchid species recover better than others.
If your plant still has some live roots, cut off those that are dead, as above, dust the wounds lightly with sulphur and wrap the live roots in damp sphagnum moss. Place in a sealed container as above and maintain 100% humidity for at least a month, then replant, preferably not in the medium that was killing it originally and remember my third sentence.

*Some people object to the use of these toxic chemicals, which are designed to eliminate bacteria and mold. If you prefer to omit this step, it is very advisable to thoroughly rinse the plant at least once a week with sterile water. Remember also, once you open the sealed container you will be letting in airborne fungal spores, so you need to do it quick.

Good luck.

I've already written and was just sending my question when Firefox crashed and I do not see that my response to the Rescue suggestions survived the crash. IF it does appear, please overlook this.
1st thanks for such a thorough and simple rescue plan. I will try to follow it for my 6" remaining cutting of a Dillon's vanilla plant. It has a node on each end with the potential for roots. I bought a large piece in January and this is all that remains. A piece about 2' (from which this comes) had survived for a couple months then unexpectedly blackened up from the bottom up. So I've trimmed.
I do have a couple questions: Does rooting hormone help? If so would willow water work? (I have some of it on hand and am about 45 miles from the nearest source of powdered). Also, would aloe vera gel possibly work as a nutrient/healer/antiseptic, etc.???
Any thoughts or experience? I am inserting my ph. no. and direct email but with breaks in them as this is RESCUE Emergency time for this endangered "baby". I will return your call to you to spare you the cost. 402 then 358 then 5204 and the other is nativelegal which is at with the symbol @ and then gpcom.net. Thanks for any experience. OH, also .. since baking soda is a fungus killer, etc. would that work to rinse the baby in perhaps as well as peroxide or better? Joyce Simmerman

DEFINITELY FOLLOW IFRASR's SUGGESTIONS THOSE ARE PHENOMENAL.

If you are truly an orchid beginner...check out some great free articles on growing orchids at home. A lot of beginners have success using this guide - there is a lot of great content that will help you get started!

Feel free to message me if you have any specific beginner questions :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Caring For Orchids

An important note in ifraser25's suggestions is "Keep everything very warm and well lit but out of direct sunlight." Don't keep the plant in the dark. It needs light, as much as you can give it without direct sunlight.