Leaves are in good condition, might recover.

You have posted on the orchid photo gallery, perhaps you will get better response over on discussions.

Oh, I hope u get some good advice

Am sooo doing this! I just got my 1st orchid too.

Thank you, thank you Dannie317! That was very helpful!

Do you think I should strip off all of the dead-looking velamen, or wait a while until it grows a new root to maybe be less traumatic to the plant?

I did put it over a pebble tray for humidity and I will put a plastic bag with vent holes over it now. I was thinking I should repot it in a smaller pot with bark chips at the bottom and the loose "nest" of sphagnum moss around it like you suggested. Would you recommend a smaller pot and bark chips at the bottom? I don't want to traumatize it by un-potting and repotting it too often either.

For its rehab location, I have to choose between a warm kitchen with lots of light from southwest exposure and a colder bathroom that also has lots of light but southeast exposure (less chance of too much sun, more humidity from shower).

Thanks again! :-)

Where do you live? What climate and zone? Really helps us give advice.

The leaves look good. Depending on where you live, Spring is coming and the days are getting longer. That spurs growth in plants.

If it were mine, I would put it in a bright window, maybe water with a little root hormone to stimulate new root growth, and keep it warm.

But you want a warm, bright window. Do not overwater, let it dry out to slightly damp before watering again.

I feel hopefull, just don't 'fiddle' with it too much.

Jane

I'll leave it to you as to whether you want to re-pot again. As you've guessed and Jane said, too ... messing with it too much might traumatize the remaining roots. They don't necessarily die off, but they tend to sulk, and not do much growing for a few weeks to a few months as they acclimate to their new digs. Though we're headed in to growing season here, you still don't want to make them mad. Maybe just loosen the moss around the base of the plant a bit? I wouldn't worry too much about the questionable roots right now, either, if you didn't snip them off before repotting.

Also, I'd choose the kitchen. Once it has recovered, you can put it in the other room, but I would choose warmth over more light in a rehab situation. I recently went away for 6 days, and opted to pack all of my plants onto three large plastic trays under a giant clear dry cleaning bag. Even the high light plants. I soaked them all well before I left, and put about a half-inch of water in the trays. When I returned, they looked great. Even my Cattleya seedling's new growth nearly doubled in size in the temporary humidity house setup! I thought it would be mad to be so far from its sunny windowsill, but a long weekend at the humidity spa was really beneficial!

I have a phalanopsis orchid that I was given as a gift in May it came in a thick ceramic pot with Spagnum moss and no drainage holes. I thought it was doing fine it had a flowers spike with signs of buds comming but it was losing its leaves with no sign of regrowth so I become concened and got some advise which was to repot which I proceded to do and found the spagum moss in a very soggy state and next to no roots. I cut what roots were there which werent in good shape I cut off the flower spike as i figured it need to use its energy for recovery and root growth I repoted it in a clear plastic container and coverd it completely in a plastic bag is there anything else I can do to save it and do i still need to water it at this time I have 2 other phalies that are thriving and in their second season of buds your advise would realy be helpfull thanks Louise. By the way I live in Wollongong NSW🌞

This what my orchid looked like when I first recieved it. It came from a florist in Fairy Meadow NSW

Louise, First, you might want to start a new thread for this. You have jumped in on the tail end of a three year old thread, and a lot of folks may just be looking over it.

I'm located in the center part of South Carolina, USA and have very little experience with potting in sphagnum (in this part of the world we tend to prefer the fir bark mixes), so I'll leave potting mix preferences to someone else to comment on.

Generally speaking the orchid plants sold in the "big box" stores and florist shops in the USA come double potted. the plant and potting mix are growing in a clear slotted plastic pot that is nested inside the heavy ceramic un-drained outer pot. This is the reason most new growers loose their first few orchid plants. It sounds like your plant was actually planed in the heavy non draining pot, and you have taken all the necessary steps to give it the best chance of survival. If your new plastic pot only has one or two holes in the bottom, consider cutting additional openings in the side of the pot for additional ventilation. Enclosing the pot and plant in a plastic bag increases the humidity around the plant, and this is good. You may also want to consider putting a few holes in the top and bottom of the outer bag to increase air flow. You want to enclose this plant in an atmosphere that has lots of humidity and warmth, and a bit less light than normal until the plant begins to grow. It also needs air flow to prevent any standing water from accumulating around the roots. The roots need to be moist in the potting mix, but not wet. Epiphytic orchids grow in the jungles attached to trees and rocks that are covered with moss, lichens, and other plants. When it rains, they get soaked, but as soon as it stops raining they begin to dry off. You need to duplicate this for your other orchids, but for this one plant that is already having problems, increasing humidity, temperature, and air flow without allowing standing water to collect around the roots is the proper method to deal with it..

This process is slow, and does not always produce the desired results, but when it does, it produces a great deal of satisfaction for a new grower, not to mention the knowledge and experience you have gained from the experience. Good luck.

Bill