Orchid Seems Like It's Dying; I'm New

That is a phalaenopsis. They like very warm temperatures, high humidity, and shade.

Unlike terrestrial plants that do their gas exchange processes through their leaves, epiphytic orchids have evolved to do most of the through their roots. That means that the potting medium (not soil) that we grow them in must retain moisture while still remaining open and airy so that those processes are not stifled.

In your pictured plant, I suspect the old potting medium started decomposing, and became compressed, trapping water between the particles, which suffocated and killed the roots. If you remove the rotted roots and repot into fresh medium, it ought to grow new ones in a few weeks.

As far as blooming is concerned, the plants like to grow warm, but likely won’t bloom if kept warm. If they are exposed about 2 weeks of an average growing temperature that is 10-15F lower than the average they had been getting, then returned to that, they will start growing a flower spike in about 6 to 8 weeks.

 

77°F is fine.

DO NOT mist the plant. That makes it wet and does very little to raise the humidity. It does, on the other hand, increase the likelihood that the plant will get bacterial or fungal infections.

Again I'll say, NO SOIL. You can probably find generic "orchid potting mix" at places like Lowes or Home Depot, or order them from someone like orchidmix.com. The potting medium needs to be made up of coarse particles that stay open and airy, even when you water it thoroughly.