Unsure how to proceed with orchid.

[MeltingRain]

Between 1 and 2 months ago, my mom bought me a lovely phalaenopsis. Yay, my first orchid! Within a few days, the 8 flowers and 3 buds shriveled and fell off (bud blast?). The stem began to turn brown and wrinkly so after some online searching I cut most of it off (I left around 3/4 of an inch...too little? too much?). The leaves continued to look and feel healthy so I assumed the plant was fine, and that it just lost it's flowers due to the environment change.

I've constantly made sure the soil the plant is in is not past moist, and let it nearly dry out before adding a small amount of water again. It's been cloudy lately, but when it was sunnier here, the orchid got lots of indirect sunlight.

I was pretty sure about my orchid care until about a week ago, when the orchid lost a completely healthy-looking leaf. I figured it's a plant, it's going to lose leaves at some point and won't always be in bloom. But today it lost it's second leaf, leaving only one leaf on the entire plant. Both leaves it lost were the lowest of the three leaves and the remaining leaf looks totally fine, but my lovely orchid has been reduced to one lovely leaf. XD

So now that I've written a novel, here are my questions. Does it sound like I've been taking proper care of my orchid or have I inherited my mom's black thumb? Is there anything I should do differently? Does it sound like my orchid is normal and I'm just paranoid?
And if my orchid is fine and I'm not about to kill it, what would you recommend I do so that it grows a new stem and leaves when it is ready?

Thanks for your help!

[Melody]

What is the potting medium? Is it potted in spaghnum moss or bark? How often do you seem to be watering it and how are you checking to see if the medium is dry?

It could be that if it's in spag, the top can look bone dry and in the middle, where the roots are, it could be soaking wet. I would definately take it out of it's pot and check your roots to see if they are mushy and rotted...and if it's in spag consider repotting in bark.

[CTB]

Agree!

[MeltingRain]

Thank you very much!

[katierkincaid]

Do you have a photo? That might help

[MeltingRain]

I just repotted it in bark. *unsure*
I hope the photos are helpful, my camera didn't want to do any up close shots.

Photo1 Photo2

Thank you!

[katierkincaid]

Well I am having a similar issue, but my leaves have not fallen off yet. You can see a pic of mine on my thread under yours named Sick Phal. They say its because it either got to hot or to cold. If the roots look ok then it should be fine after a while. Make sure it gets plenty of sun and i would mist the roots, if any stick out, once a day. What kind of bark did you use? Usually when they say it is planted in bark it means an Orchid bark mix, which usually is a special kind of bark with some charcoal, and peralite mixed in. Think you can find it at a nursery or lowes. Do you have this in a window or?

[katierkincaid]

Oh wait, I forgot to mention fertilizer. You will need to fertilize it, once every 3-4 weeks. I have some Phals, (not the one pictured) that LOVE the brand GROW MORE 20-10-20. Dont use just any kind of fertilizer, look around. I ordered mine online

[Anisa]

I agree that sometimes when the medium feels dry at a top it still could be plenty moist inside a pot. Till you figure out how often to water and the best watering schedule try a skewer method - stick a bamboo skewer into the medium and pull it out couple of times per week. If it comes out moist - the orchid has plenty of moisture. If it comes out kind of dryish - need to water.
Also I wouldnt fertilize orchid that has a problem with dropping leaves. Excessive leaf drop suggest you have a root problem - dont add to a stress by fertilizing incorrectly. Wait till new roots develop before fertilizing. My

[MeltingRain]

Thanks for the advice!

The leaves never yellowed or anything before falling off, they appeared to be in perfect condition, which is one reason I decided to ask about it. When I repotted it, the moss I removed wasn't very moist, I've maybe given it a spoonful of water one time the entire time I've had it, but I did have to remove some rotting roots.

I was told to keep the orchid in medium to bright indirect sunlight. My bedroom window would give very direct sunlight where it's located, so I put the orchid on my desk where the sunlight still comes through but not so strong. Should I temporarily move it to more direct light?

The bark mix I'm using is MiracleGro Orchid Potting Mix. I don't know how good it is, but that was what the closest hardware store had. I'll go ahead and wait to fertilize it.