Cym dropping flowers

[Tikva]

I bought a Cym at the NYC show with some beautiful flowers. It then spent almost a week in a very hot hotel room with very little fresh air and basically no sun (crummy hotel!) and the flowers around the edges started to brown and get little indents - the whole plant started to get that "I'm not well" look.
It's home now and the top most flower is wilted and dead ugly gross... The other flowers aren't perking up much either....
The weather here hasn't been sunny so I'm sure it's not enjoying some nice light like it needs. I've been watering it every other day or so (which seems like a lot to me because it's an orchid - but the lady said it needed very frequent watering)...
I watered it with orchid food when I got home too.

So, is there anything I can do differently? Would a regular light on it help any or does it have to be a grow light? How long do Cym flowers last in general?

And say all of the flowers just want to die on me, do I cut the spike? Anything else I should know?

Thanks all!

[Piper]

It just sounds like the spike is done blooming. Since you bought it in bloom, you don't know how long it was already open. But once they start to go, there's nothing you can do.

I'll let the Cym pros answer your other questions.

Julie

[clintdawley]

I concur with Julie's assessment. There is nothing left to do but cut the spike and start providing your Cym with proper culture.

[Diane]

Cyms stay beautiful for months, but when they start to fade, there is no recovery for the blooms. Yours may have been hastened to fade by the stay in the hotel, but that's just the way it is. Sooo When the flowers are no longer attractive, cut the stalk off. Now is the time for the plant to grow!

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

Hi Tikva,

If cyms are kept cool, the flowers last longer. It might have been too hot for the plant so the demise of the flowers was hastened. I would keep the plant at a very coolish place (outdoor perhaps?) (day temps in the 60s) and see whether the flowers perk up a little? Second, even though cyms like water, they will also rot if the medium gets soggy. It is best to water cyms at most 2 times a week. I water mine only once a week. If it rains during the week, I don't water them at all since I grow all cyms outside.
Cheers. Hoa.

[Tikva]

Thanks guys. I feel better now... I wasn't thinking the plant was dying, but I have come to realize that orchids take a long time and give you lots of signs if you aren't doing something right, so there is time to correct things. I wanted to check with you all to see what I should do differently... glad to know all is not lost. And I look forward to it growing lots more. I want a gorgeous impressive one sometime! :c) So I'll let the flowers do what they may and look forward to my plant growing more! And slow the watering. The medium isn't soggy.... I find the wood chip orchid mixes I have dry out quite fast... I still resist the temptation to water, but I mist sometimes too...