Question
Hi I am writing because my orchid is dying and i don't know what to do to help it survive. I live in Utah and the weather here is all over the place.My poor plant was doing just fine but now i don't know.the flowers are wilting it seems like they are wilting but i water it when it looks dry. some of the leaves have died and two of the flower have already gone.what do i do to help my plant?

Answer
For the purpose of this response, I'm going to assume that your orchid is a phalaenopsis or moth orchid.  These are house plants and like to grow inside, preferably in an east facing window where they get the morning sun.  They do not like to be outside because of all of the fluctuations in temperature.  Grow at 65 - 85 degrees F.

Phalaenopsis flowers last from 2 - 4 weeks and then naturally die.  They have a flowering season-- usually in the spring and then just grow the rest of the year.

Many first time phalaenopsis growers don't realize that orchids require annual repotting in a special orchid potting mix that allows lots of air to flow around the roots.  They do not generally do well in soil and that is what results when the potting mix they are in breaks down. I suspect that is what has happened.  You need to locate a bag of orchid potting mix.  When you have it, remove your plant from its pot, wash all the roots thoroughly and remove any "mushy" roots as they are dead. I suspect that you have many dead roots and that could account for leaves that are dying.  Once you have cleaned your roots and removed the dead ones you can repot your plant in the fresh orchid potting mix.

Watering when the mix looks dry can be a problem.  A potting mix that has broken down may look dry on the surface, but remains damp, or even wet, in the root zone. That's because a broken down potting mix becomes more soil-like and holds water.  After repotting in fresh orchid potting mix you may resume a weekly watering.  Leaves that are sickly looking will eventually be lost.  What you want is to promote new root growth to replace those that are lost and, eventually, new leaves.