[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The roots in the pot probably died because it was left too long in the same mix and the mix degraded to the point of holding too much water. This is not a particularly serious situation if one waters by need and not by schedule. Since you continued to water once a week, the increasingly more moist mix eventually rotted the roots. The current roots should be enough if you were able to get them into the mix where moisture would be held for a number of days to sustain the plant until the next watering, when the mix is very nearly dry. If the roots are still up in the air, they will need regular misting until some roots grow down into the mix.

I generally like to thoroughly wet aerial roots and bend them, gradually if need be, downward to get them into the pot. I have come up with a new way to get these roots into a pot. I start with a large pot that needs only a little bending of the roots, and press the roots downward as much as possible with wet paper towels and something for weight (no bark here yet). I then progressively move the plant into smaller pots over the next few days, allowing about 12 hours for the roots to adjust to each of the smaller confines with more pressing down of the paper towels. When you reach the size you want, pot up.