Question
Mr. Kawasaki I purchased my orchid about a year ago, it was at the time a "Charlie Brown" orchid with one lonely flower and two tiny pedals. It is a phal, it went through a beautiful flowering period after my girlfriend and I initially bought it. After it's flowering it continued to grow but almost died when my girlfriend neglected to water it for several weeks (it was at her house) The leaves were yellow and it was on the verge of extinction, I took it home and began nursing it back to health. New leaves grew and it was looking mighty fine. About 3 weeks ago  I decided to repot using a phal potting mix and upgrading to a larger pot, I cut off the dead roots and starting watering with and orchid-gro supplement. In the last few days the leaves have become limp and less resilient. The leaves appear darker, some with purple-ish areas on some with dark spots around the edges of the leaves. I am afraid we are losing our orchid! Do you know what the problem might be?

Answer
Hello Mr. Latchaw,

Please call me Jim and I'll call you Aaron, fair enough?  (grin)  

By "Charlie Brown" orchid, I am assuming you were refering to the sad condition it was in when you got it.  

The problem you are having with the leaves becoming limp is probably due to having repotted it into a larger pot.  When you unpotted it you cut off some roots which meant it did not have a lot of healthy live roots.  Too large a pot for the number of roots will cause the healthy roots to rot within a short time, especially if you have been watering it regularly.  When potting an orchid, it is best to go with the smallest size that is able to hold the roots.  

Go back to where you buy your orchid supplies and get a pot the next size smaller than the old pot.  If you find more rotten roots, remove them prior to repotting.  

Hope this helps save the phal.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.