how long from seedling to first spike?

[MollieMcP]

I got these two "starter" orchids (for free) from my local nursery in Oct 2012 when I purchased other plants. They are very small and I can see some growth but was curious if anyone could tell me about how long it will be until these spike for the first time.

The tags identify them as:

Doritis pulcherrima 'CA' x pulcherrima 'CAO White' champorensis
and
Catasetum ochraceum x self

[sbrofio]

If you can grow them very well, 2 years should be enough.

[zxyqu]

The doritis plant looks really small. Have you seen any signs of growth with it yet? Granted it's winter, so maybe in Spring you'll see if perk up. Just be mindful to not let seedling entirely dry out. At it's current size, I'd say at least 2 years for it to bloom.
The Catesetum has a new growth, which is a great sign. Given it's size though, I envision at least 2 years before it has a psuedobulb large enough to support flowering. More likely it'll be 3-4 years.

[MollieMcP]

It's hard to see but the Doritis actually has a very small new leaf in the center that has come up in the last few weeks. The two largest leaves have a least doubled in size since I got it. These last couple of months I had put a plastic bag over it to keep the moisture in since it's been cold and the growth improved during that time. I took it off since it has started to get warmer. Maybe I should put it back on to increase growth even more??

The Catesetum hasn't done too much, but that small amount of growth has been since I got it. The nursery I got it form said Catesetums go dormant during the winter and drop all their leaves. They said to stop watering after the leaves drop and not to water it again until the roots got to 4" long. I didn't measure the roots but just watered it this last week because I noticed the new growth and the psuedobulb was a little shriveled. Maybe I'll try the plastic bag on this one too.

[Call_Me_Bob]

I would be worried about them drying out too much in bark, especially in such small pots! If I were you, I would repot into some Sphagnum moss. And yes, I would put the cover back on.

[Rowangreen]

If you go down in the catesetum forum you'll find some links to info on culture for them. I'm only a beginner with them, but you do need to keep them really dry this time of year. They say only water if they really shrivel, and possibly just mist. Otherwise you could rot it, especially as it's in moss.

[MollieMcP]

Thanks all. I had recently watered the Catasetum but then the moss would not dry out. So now I have gotten rid of all the moss so the roots won't rot. And I think the Doritis is staying plenty moist, I returned that plastic baggie and now there is always condensation. I think I just need to be patient, which is driving me crazy!!