That mix looks to be too arid! You need advice from indoor growers in similar climate zones, so put something extra in your id such as your state or the USA cold hardiness zone.

Those wrinkles on the leaves say "I am dying of thirst"

Recommended temp range 60 to 90F

Needs very bright light or sunlight filtered by a curtain. In this room sunlight filtered by a matchstick blind.

Read the complete culture notes on the Canadian Orchid Congress site as well as past threads.

Good luck and hopefully other forum members will add to this.

@arthurm2015 Thank you So Much for the Comment!! (and Ah, I thought those wrinkles meant something to do with Temperature - Honestly, learning my room was more at a 60/50 in the winter (as opposed to like full 30 or 40) shoulda tipped me off a little more on that score)

As for Curtains. . .

Do you think These will do? I've had them for a While, but I was always afraid they wouldn't block enough sunlight/She'd end up getting Burned. . .

As for Climate, I'm right on Long Island New York, so Lemme look it up. . . I'm in zone 7a 'XD Not quite sure what that means, but I Hope it Helps XD /u\

Do you think the yellowing and browning is Also caused by lack of water and sun? If so, do you think if I quickly remedy it then the progression will stop, or would I need to cut her leaves again? (I'd rather not, as she Does only have two/a Finite amount of Leaf ;u;'''')

Again, Thank you for you Time!! XD /u\

Those cold hardiness tell you what the lowest temperature outside in winter might be.

The problem here is that there is little expertise in growing orchids inside the home so Phalaenopsis are not widely grown by orchid society members and I only have had moderate success in growing them.

Here at latitude 34S I would guess that Phalaenopsis need sunlight filtered by about 80% shading.

Hopefully, as I said previously, some of the Northern USA growers will add to this, but you should add details of your fertiliser use and watering routine. Someone may be able to tell you how to get water back in those leaves.

I agree with Arthur. Your plant looks dehydrated.

In your zone, this plant should be in smaller bark mixed with sphagham moss.

I would repot now and buy a new mix with some moisture holding material, sphag moss. Soak the bark overnight to help it absorb some moisture.

As Arthur said, put in a bright, warm window. You could put her outside in a shady spot for the summer.

Those leaves will not recover but should remain. Any marks are just mechanical nothing to worry about. The leaves are dehydrated, the plant needs more moisture and some humidity.

There are some good orchid societies on Long Island and I would recommend you join one. You'll meet people like yourself growing orchids in your climate. You will learn alot and I always recommend new growers to join your local Society. You will really enjoy going to the meeting.

Jane

Potting mix is dry as a bone with no moisture holding material mixed in. The OP is growing this plant indoors with low humidity. She needs to repot. The plant is badly dehydrated.

Rain and crown rot is the least of her problems. The plant is indoors in a window.

Jane

I agree it is dehydrated. Phalaenopsis orchids don't like to get totally dried out. They don't want to be wet all the time, but should not get completely dry like some other types of orchids. Does it have any active roots under the medium? If it were my plant, I would immerseit bare rooted in water for a half an hour, then hang upside down to dry, making sure no water remains in the crown. Then I would add some moss to the bark mix, as others have said. and go from there. Do a search for orchid care specifically for Phalaenopsis types. I would try misting it every day for a while, but again, make sure water does not get in the crown, and making sure that some moisture is in the medium in the pot. I wouldn't cut the leaves, but let them fall off naturally, the plant draws energy even from older leaves. Mist the roots til they turn green. Also, this type likes bright light but not direct sun. Hope this helps, there are lots of videos out there about re-hydrating orchids.

Thank you for all the Replies, Guys! (I'm glad it's something pretty fixable like Dehydration and not some sort of plant disease) - I will be getting new potting mix and repotting her in the next few days.

and perle_de-or, No, she does Not have any roots under the medium - when I first got her (from a Target) she was planted in Dirt and I didn't know it at the time nor did I know that was bad - about a year after being in that medium and it decaying (I took quite a while to get off my butt and do proper research) almost all her ground roots died and Now they're all aerial. Has that happened to anyone else? Is that perhaps part of the reason she's so dehydrated?

I think so. It was relying on just the aerial roots. Keep those misted til green as much as you can. I have never rehydrated this type of orchid that had no bottom roots at all, but what I would try is setting it in a container over damp spagnum moss but without the bottom of the stem actually touching the moss. I use chinese food take out plastic containers a lot. You need it to be in a humid enviroment but without the stem being wet. If you dont have any moss, you could try a small amount of water in the bottom of the container. I hope this makes sense. Do a search online for videos of saving an orchid with no roots.

Phals make aerial roots. They wrap them around trees where they naturally grow. You lost the bottom roots but have the aerial roots to take up moisture and nutrients.

Buy a bag of sphagnam moss, wet it well and mix it into the bark mix.

It is spring, time of growth. Your plant will make new roots. In a the meantime, spray those aerial roots daily, even 2x a day. You could add a bit of liquid fertilizer and water to the spray bottle. Do not get the crown wet or dry it if it does.

In my experience, those older leaves do not plump up again. They will continue to appear

dehydrated, but new leaves will be normal looking as long as you continue watering.

Your plant will make new roots and they will seek out moisture. They probably will grow into the mix.

But, you must keep those aerial roots watered for any chance that the plant recovers.

Jane

I started accumulating my Phals in 2013. I have 6 of them now, all growing indoors (Chicago, 5a) on east window stools. Four of them were purchased, one is a rescue, and the last one is a separated keiki (result of my experiment using a keiki paste). They’re all healthy and bloom once or twice yearly, except for the keiki (too young).

You don’t have roots in the potting medium. I would repot your Phal and bury those aerial roots in the potting medium.

I water my plants every ~7 days (soaking for 15 min). They’re in PP pots so I can easily see when it’s time to water. I give each pot 14 squirts (from a spray bottle) of diluted Schultz orchid food (0.14 g per L solution) after the soaking.

Do you ever soak the roots for more than 5 minutes at a time? And, how often?

I would not bury those aerial roots at all. The plant will make new roots will seek moisture and go into the mix. Those roots are keeping your plant alive. You will damage them by trying to put them into a pot. Leave them alone, spray them with some water and soak the bark until it is moist.

The plant will grow new roots and they will go into the moist potting mix. Do not damage those aerial roots now. You need to grow new roots.

Jane

Hi All!! Thank you for your comments - I have repotted her in orchiata bark, and I have decided to partly bury only two of her roots (Their top parts (like maybe 2/3rds of the root) are still aerial, and they come up right to the side of the pot/are right by the air holes in the sides - I'm monitoring them, and if they start to rot I'll take them out right away) She has new roots growing in so hopefully those take to the medium.

I don't soak her necessarily, I more douse her roots for a few minutes with running water from a small watering can I have (Careful to not hit the leaves or anything XD) and make sure I get all the medium wet. I do this about once a week or once a week n' change.

Small update: One of her leaves (the 'newest' one aside from the tiny one that's growing) snapped off - When I looked at it the other night it seemed to have split a bit in the middle, then when I tried to move it lightly to get a better look it Came right off. The Other one seems to be splitting off, too (the stalk part of it is turning yellow) so I'm amking sure not to jostle her too much.

However ever her new Baby leaf seems to be a bright grron color/seems to be fine, and she still has those two new roots coming in/her old roots are seemingly healthy, So I don't think I should be too worried right now - Perhaps she's getting rid of the old leaves to leave all her energy for the new stuff? I'm unsure, Lol 'XD

I'll update again in a while after she'd been in the pot a few more weeks X3 Thank you all Again!!!

Having experimented with my Phals for the 7th year now indoors, I’ve learned:

1. There’s no harm in burying aerial roots. I bury most aerial roots all the time when I repot my Phals. They will grow more aerial roots if they need them.

2. I chop/trim off the “stem” underneath when it’s grown too long (my old Phals).

3. The roots of a basal keiki grow much more profusely than the roots of a nodal/stem keiki. I had to cut off a stem keiki and pot it because it looked like the stem was starting to dry up. It only had 5 reddish roots, none looked actively growing. I buried all the roots. It took about 6 months before the roots started showing fresh green tips and there’s a tiny new leaf now.

4. My very first Phal almost died because I didn’t inspect and repot it soon after buying it. It was too low in the medium, getting wet - developed crown rot. I don’t know if it did it on its own or if it was because of the keiki paste I applied but it formed a basal keiki that grew big quite fast.