The Phal abuse ends here.

[MerCast]

Hello -- I'm a sincere newbie, to forums, to orchids, to it all, please, I ask for patience.

My husband bought me a Phal. Orchid for mother's day 2012 and the flowers fell off and I cut it back and then a spike grew and a leaves were growing and it was great.

But then we went on vacation and our house sitter watered it too much and 2 out of the 4 leaves fell off and the tip of the new spike broke off and the majority of the roots were black and hollow. I cut most of the roots off, there were about 3 that were still green and firm, and I went ahead and cut off the main stem in hopes to start "fresh." I hope I didn't just induce a communal head smack. I put cinnamon on the exposed stem and roots to protect it as I have read to do so.

I have put pictures of what it looks like and what the "new" spike looked like that I cut off.

So, the question, am I guilty of phal abuse? Have I just killed it?

Thank you thank you!