Question
I fear I'm asking too late & have destroyed my orchid... I have a 2 yr old small Phalean. that has never bloomed and has failed to thrive(sporting only 2-3 leaves at a time)until about a month ago when more leaves began to appear. I live in south Florida...hot & very humid. Yesterday while checking my patio garden I noticed that this orchid (I have about 15 others and many other plants)had some green mold & lots of black mold nearly covering the outside & top inside of the clay pot including much of what had appeared to be healthy roots (they were whitish with shiny green tips). I tried to wipe off the mold but wasn't making much headway with the roots so I decided to repot the orchid and proceeded to remove the roots that had attached themselves to the outside of the mold ladened pot. Inspecting these roots I noticed many tears & gashes from the knife I used and realized I should have checked with an authority before blundering through this butchery!
QUESTION:Can this orchid be saved inspite of the root damage? Is the mold as menacing as it appeared or is mold harmless? Should I have left everything alone?

Answer
Lillian, it is likely that the "green mold" is algae and is harless.  It thrives in humid environments and you needn't be concerned about it.  It sounds as if your plant was healthy and is likely so to continue despite the root damage.  Damaged roots tend to seal themselves to prevent an infection and should, with time, develop new root branches. Phalaenopsis orchids are more like house plants and like a fairly even temperature (60 - 85 degrees).  They get stressed above 85 degrees unless there is lots of air movement.  Humdiity is good.  During especially hot or cold spells, you could place it inside in an east facing window so it gets some morning sun. I hope you repotted your orchid in a standard orchid potting mix.  This usually is fir bark based.  A late orchid growing friend lined his clay pots with a plastic sheet cut to form.  It was much easier to remove the plants without damage because the plant could simply be lifted out of the pot by removing the pot liner.