Cattleya: Growth Cycle?

[emmajs243]

Ok guys, I know different Cattleyas seem to flower at different times of year. But I am struggling to figure out what I should except this next year with my cattleyas. So I understand that this might happen at different times for different orchids and of course, some orchids may not follow the "book" answer period. I get that. But there are somethings I feel like do always happen in a sequence...

For example: new roots tips only grow after a new growth has formed. Is this correct? It is what I have summed up from reading different comments but nothing has come out and said that. It seems like really important information for beginners to know but that really doesn't get much emphasis.

And ideally, in a typical, healthy orchid that has gone through zero drastic changes, about what is the soonest a new growth will start to form and then be formed enough to grow new root tips? Fully understanding that it may be a very long time past this estimate but just trying to set a timeline in my mind so if I decide to wait to...repot one of my Catts for example, I know a best case scenario of how long that orchid will have to stay in its current Potting conditions.

And then blooming....Just the entire what to expect aspect is missing. Example, one of my Catts is suppose to be a winter bloomer. She has two new growths that are fully developed, one sprouted new root tips I would say a month or so ago, the other is just now beginning to sprout new root tips. The one pseudobulbs that sprouted root tips a while ago is just beginning to plump up and getting its ridges like the older pseudobulbs. The newer one is still pretty slender and uniform in shape up and down. In addition to that she has a newER growth that has a dried up old sheath sticking out from it.

The fact that I haven't had any new sheaths yet from the two new growths, does this mean they just won't form any and won't bloom this year? Or does it take a while to form the sheaths? Or do all new growths form sheaths (I know some catts don't form sheaths at all but in this case...) and then only some of the sheaths produce buds?

What would be totally awesome is if someone could give me an example of their growth cycle. Not so much dates or exact season timeline because I know this is probably different per plant but more like, a new growth will form, new root tips will start once the leaf is fully developed....in a perfect world about blah blah months later, a new sheath will always then form over the next few months, if your orchid will flower the sheath will do blah blah, otherwise at the soonest the process will repeat in....blah blah.

I just don't know if waiting to repot this orchid will mean waiting at least a month or more like 5 months. I haven't repotted her since getting her because I have been so scared of ruining her but Her roots don't seem to be in the best of shape, she is literally stairstepping crawling out of her pot and her tiny new root tips aren't even inside of the pot. I am just a tad worried about her root health and I can't even see really any media because she is so overgrown. I can't be sure that it the media is old but I am guessing it is because half of the media is up to almost to the pots rim and the other half is way lower then the rim of the pot. Plus I can never really tell when the media is dry because I can't see any media! If it could be a few months before I have new root tips growing again then I will repot her now even if it risks her blooming because I would much rather make sure she is healthy. Plus if a new growth grows from either new pseudobulbs I am pretty positive they will be growing completely outside of the pot!

Sorry I know this is a long post! Research just isn't giving me these answers!