Encourage root growth on phalaenopsis?

[alison42]

I recently repotted my orchid because the bark at the bottom of the pot never seemed to dry out, even while the rest of the pot was dried out - the visible roots looked in need of water, and as I took it out, I found that most of the roots were rather mushy. After removing these, I had about 4 roots left - yet the plant has nine leaves and has has done so for a long time. I think I had it in 2008, and it has not flowered since - during that time, the number of roots has declined and the number of leaves increased. Should I be trying to encourage growth of roots, and if so, how?