Yes I am in the CA, the SF Bay Area. It's summer here now, but my home doesn't get a ton of sunlight. I watered it because the lady at the store said to water it every 4-6 weeks.

Brenda, you live in a part of the world that is the envy of many orchid growers. Some wonderful orchids are easy to grow there.....but I'm not so sure about Phalaenopsis. Googled San Francisco orchid society in the hope of finding some notes written for the locals. No such luck, found the AOS notes which might need some fine tuning.

Give some more info. for fine tuning by hopefully one of the locals.

What is the potting mix composed of?

Are there holes in the base of the pot?

What are the temps where you have the plant?

American Orchid Society Cultivation notes

Hiya Brenda.

I am about 2 hrs south, in Monterey, so it is a bit less foggy in
winter, but same temps and general humidity. arthurm is right, you
lucked out, getting into orchids while living here!

My phals go crazy here. Every home is different, what with light
and so forth, but IMHO in a foggy area the usual tips for growing
phals are esp important: (Caution: long ramble by devoted orchid
freak, only to be read by the truly interested, very bored, or those
suffering from insomnia.)

-Orchids like it warm and wet, or cold
and dry. Too warm and too dry will dry out the plant, and cold and
wet will rot it in no time at all. We get cool air here a lot so
orchids prefer to be dry rather than wet.

-Soil: COARSE, well-drained bark or mixed media (I prefer a
lightweight mix of med. size chips, clay pieces, volcanic rock,
vermiculite pieces, and a very few strands of sphagnum moss blended
in). My favorite mix so far is made by repotme.com and its called
Monterey Phalaenopsis mix, but there are many affordable mixes in
your garden center.

It looks like you might have some root rot there. I'd remove the
outer pot, which creates stagnant conditions. Also, less light means
less evaporation, and the roots also really like light. It looks like
it is in sphagnum moss which in my experience always kills (rots)
Phalaenopsis here. It just doesn't dry out fast enough in the center
of the pot. And arthurm asked an essential question: there must
always be drainage holes, always. Healthy roots have a shiny white
film on them and slowly turn green when wet: unhappy ones are darker
green all the time, rotted ones are dark brown/blackened, mushy or
stringy or, if dry, papery with a buff color. When you repot now
you'll see these...don't panic, just snip off the bad ones with
scissors that have dried after the blades are dipped in alcohol.

With a coarse mix in a 5 inch pot, I usually water a phal of this
size every week and a half or so, depending on the weather, BUT
I also get very bright light here. If it dries out too quickly for
you, you can poke some extra sphagnum moss down into the medium, esp
closer to the outside of the pot, and that will keep the moisture
around the roots for longer. Too damp? Lose some spagnum.

-Water:
I only mist my phals when humidity is low (lightly MIST not spray, in
a cool, darker apartment), and only in the a.m. In SF they probably
won't need much. Only water them when the medium feels totally dry
when you put your finger down 2 inches deep. It is crucial that the
soil/roots dry out between waterings. Then when you water it,
actually soak it for several minutes to let everything absorb the
water. If your water is hard or salt-softened (mine was horrible in
SF), use bottled/spring water.

I do use a humidifier in the winter here: it is damp-cold enough
that the heat has to be on at points and then it gets too dry. I
doubt you will need one. If you are curious about your humidity
count, small hygrometers take one battery and are $10 on Amazon. My
phals like 60% and never complain about more (but given the mold up
there, add moisture very carefully): most of the time the humidity
here is 60-70% on its own, but with today's spitting fog, it is about
80%, yikes!

-Air: I keep a fan going near my orchids 24-7, to minimize
both rotting and bacterial spread: the more moisture in the air, the
more crucial the fan is.

You live in a city: very gently wipe off any apparent dust from
the leaves with a moistened cotton pad (probably every month?).

-After getting the right medium and moisture in place, IGNORE your orchid! Yay! The ones I have killed, I have fussed
over, overwatered. Neglect is king.

If the orchid doesn't make it, don't be discouraged. It may have
been stressed before you got it, and sometimes they can't recover
from conditions they don't like. We all have a long trail of dead
orchids behind us (ssshhh!). Persistence will pay off, I promise :)

Lisa

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. - Harry
Potter

"arthurm is right, you lucked out, getting into orchids while living here" I didn't really say that. I said that there were some wonderful orchids that are easy to grow there

Cloud forest type orchids that would just decline here in non cloud forest dryness.

Arthurm, I knew what you meant...I was the one pointing out that her timing was good. I moved here after decades in the midwest and have found many of the orchids that didn't do well there do great here, even without a greenhouse.