root rot or just natural aging?
 

i've had my phal for about a year and a half now. In the last few weeks, it has started looking kind of sad. The bottom most leaf slowly turned yellow and fell off. Now the new lowest leaf is doing the same. This is the last of the leafs that was one the plant when i bought it. The rest have grown since then. Although i haven't seen any new growth in about 6 months. no spike, no leafs (leaves?), nothing!

I'm not sure if it's naturally shedding the old growth, if i've given it root rot, or if i'm just killing it on accident. I'm attaching a few photos. The white looking spots on the leafs aren't visible with the naked eye, they showed up when i took a picture with a flash. Also, in the picture with my finger it, notice there is a sad dying looking root below my finger that blends in with the moss.

I water every week or so. I moved to southern new york state in april to a house with out AC, so we leave the windows open and the humidity is more than it was in my old place. I wait until the moss is dry before i water again.

please help. i really love this plant and want it to live (and hopefully bloom again!)

picture showed up opposite of what i was expecting. the sad dying root is above my finger.

Welcome to the OB.
You will need to take the plant out of the pot and physically check the roots, you may have a problem with them. Also, the pot looks a bit large for your plant. Pot phals in a pot just large enough for the root ball.
Joann

I agree. To really know what is going on you need to look at the roots in the pot. Your plant is way over potted and that can lead to root rot. Like Joann said you want to pick a pot that just fits the healthy roots snugly. Match the pot to the roots not the top growth. Also when using sphagnum moss you want to have good drainage at the bottom of the pot and you don't want to pack the moss too tight. I put a few styrofoam packing peanuts in the bottom of my pots. Good luck and if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask!

To me, it looks like natural senescence because the younger leaves don't look dehydrated. Maybe they aren't growing now because of heat? But if you haven't repotted in the last 1.5 year, it's probably a good time to repot any way (if it is not too hot there). If you don't have lots of experience of repotting with sphag, bark-based mix seems to be easier. I think sphag is great for experienced growers. I finally started to experiment with it.

Like the other posts pointed out, the pot is way too big. Luckily phals do not mind being repotted. Good luck.

That sphagnum looks awfully densely-packed. Check the root system ASAP.