[mellymom]

Hi!! this is only my second post...after my phal branched off and bloomed again on the same spike, it got infested w/ mealybugs....mostly on the blooms. So, I sacrificed the blooms and cut the stem 2" from bottom of the plant....also, I had never repotted since I got the phal and thought I should check the rest of the plant for bugs....also, it was in very tightly packed moss. I removed a few mealybugs from the leaves w/ cotton swabs dipped in alcohol. when repotting, I trimmed off any rotten roots, but there were still many good roots (I thought) I repotted in Schultz's orchid mix (fir and pine bark, arcillite, and horticultural charcoal) ....It seemed to be doing great for the past 2-3 months. now, the bottom leaves are floppy and the surface of them is rough and thinner, like its drying out...there is also discoloration where the stem was touching one of the leaves. the top leaf is still firm and upright, but does have a little of the roughness on its surface. are the bottom leaves just dying off, or is something more the matter here? also, two roots were above the medium, (i tried to push them under, but figured it was ok) and they are withering away (dry and dead)....thanks for any help