Wilting leaves, dried out roots

[Arukou]

I am housesitting for a year, and the owner of the house has several lovely orchids. And then there is this one, with wilting leaves and roots that are dried out. I’m reasonably sure that it’s a Phalaenopsis orchid but not 100% sure, as it’s not currently blooming. There is no visible rot that I can see. The soil is moist to the touch, even several days after watering. It was receiving Full sun from roughly 7:30 AM to 12 PM and then partial sun after, I have moved it to the darker side of the window, but this doesn’t seem to have revived it, so I don’t think sun is the problem. I am at a loss as to whether this is disease, or some other possible problem, as I’ve never really kept orchids before. The owner has already reassured me that she doesn’t care if it dies, but I’d like to rescue it if possible. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ray]

I'll bet that if you unpot it, you'll find that the sub-surface roots are dead. It needs to be repotted and watered normally.

[aliceinwl]

Yes, it’s a Phalaenopsis and I second Ray that it could use repotting. There are lots of different ways to pot these up. I use 5 parts small-medium grade bark, 1 part perlite, and 1 part charcoal. I suspect that the media it’s currently in has broken down and the in pot roots are dead (this would explain the wilty appearance).

If you repot it into an open mix, like the bark mix I use, the air roots will do fine if you bury them. Soak the plant for an hour or so in order to make the roots as flexible as possible. I like clear pots so that I can see the roots to gauge health and moisture levels. When they’re silver: water. After watering make sure to let any excess water drain out before putting it back in the cache pot.