Lady bug, you probably have a Phalaenopsis! The "ice orchid" is just a gimmick to stop people overwatering their orchid.

As for care that depends a lot on where you are in the USA and where you have the plant.

Google Phalaenopsis culture to find some complete culture notes written for where you live or just do a search of past Gardenweb posts.

When these posts come up there are lots of anti ice comments, but I think it might just work. Not that I am recommending it for advanced orchid growers.

Link to just add ice past discussions

Anyway you can add a picture? Browning of the roots can either mean lack of water or too much water. The difference is if it's too much water, the roots will be mushy. Too little water and the roots will look and feel very dry.

At any rate: Stop using ICE (if you're doing it) to water this orchid. It's a tropical plant and every time you put ice in it, you're putting it into a shock.

Would you add ice into your fish tank to add water? Why not? Those sellers who suggests putting ice into a potting medium should be shot, regardless of whether or not they're trying to keep you from over watering.

Besides, three pieces of ice cube will not sufficiently water your phal. That's hardly any water at all. Especially if the medium drains easily. A Picture please and your location would be most helpful?

I think the ICE thing is like the humidity tray thing. Common sense says humidity trays should work, but do not work much at all. And Common sense says the ice should be a total disaster, but it seems that it does work to some extent.

Here's a web site that actually suggests (watch video) that you use 3 ice cubes to water you Phals. Nothing to do with creating a humidity tray. And these people are serious.

Note: It's best to copy the link below and paste it in your address bar, because this link will take you to the Ice Orchid site and sometimes the embedded video dissapears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYIY5F8DU14

Also note all the comments. NOT ONE positive comment and most are saying that it's a good way to kill your orchid.

The "stems" coming up are the old flower spikes, and if they are brown you can cut them down to about an inch, and remove any sticks, clips, or string that was put in to hold them up.

As other have said: stop putting ice on your orchid. If it's planted in bark chips, it would be happy with a heavy watering in the sink once a week or so when it dries out. If it's in moss, that's trickier, because often when the outside is dry, the inside is still quite wet. If you don't want to repot your plant in bark chips (called orchid mix), I would water very carefully, when you stick your finger down into the moss and it feels dried out. Pour a small bit of water over the whole plant to re-dampen the moss.

Phals love nice bright light, but not too much sun, so find a nice place for it to sit. If your climate is mild, it can live outside all summer. It may not reflower this season, but next fall you'll probably get another flower spike.

Good luck!

For an Orchid in a hot stuffy and dry as the desert room,then I guess less bad care- cool Ice melting is better then horrible care and conditions!

It wont though do a thing for the Orchid industry other then get you to buy a new one grown right. After the Ice grown hits the garbage bucket.