c.violacea and c.nobilior seedling question

[Autumn Child]

I am planning to purchase seedling of cattleya species.
One of the seedling pics is c.violacea semi alba icabaru mc and the other one is c. nobilior coerulea.

My question is:

How long will it take to flower these seedlings? They seem pretty small and i can only afford the small ones. Mature c.violacea icabaru (4-5 pbulbs)cost around roughly $600 USD in china.

Which one do you recomend? two c.violacea seedlings or one c.nobilior coerulea seedling? two c.violacea cost slightly more.

Are they easy to grow from seedling? I have mature violacea and nobilior and they are easy to grow in my growing space but i am not sure about seedlings.

thanks

[escualida]

I have no idea what you should get, but I just LOVE the C. violacea semi alba icabaru. Are they only available in China? I would love love love love to get one, any ideas on how I could possibly get one of those babies sent over here?

[veekay]

Hi Autum Child,
I live in tropical island have 4 months bright Sun your seedlings would take at least 4 years.I have c.nobilar 'coerulea',c.violacea 'coerulea' they are 6 months old can post the images if you desire.
veekay

[Autumn Child]

Originally Posted by escualida

I have no idea what you should get, but I just LOVE the C. violacea semi alba icabaru. Are they only available in China? I would love love love love to get one, any ideas on how I could possibly get one of those babies sent over here?

I think its available in japan, taiwan and mainland china. Most of the plant in mainland china is imported from taiwan and japan. I believe i saw a post in orchidboard or some other forum that stated it is available elsewhere. There is a very good chance that some of the specialized retailer in the US have them in stock.

[isurus79]

Peronally, I would get one violacea and one nobilior. The seedlings are not much more difficult to grow than the adults. Actually, I find seedling nobiliors very easy to grow and will usually put out multiple growths per year. Seedling violacea is about the same as adult violacea in terms of difficulty to grow.

Originally Posted by escualida

I have no idea what you should get, but I just LOVE the C. violacea semi alba icabaru. Are they only available in China? I would love love love love to get one, any ideas on how I could possibly get one of those babies sent over here?

Since this one is cloned, you can get icabaru here in the US, but its expensive. Watch ebay for this one, but its buyer beware!

Edit: I forgot to mention that H&R Nurseries is probably your best bet to find icabaru or flammea type violacea from a grower in the US.

Originally Posted by veekay

Hi Autum Child,
I live in tropical island have 4 months bright Sun your seedlings would take at least 4 years.I have c.nobilar 'coerulea',c.violacea 'coerulea' they are 6 months old can post the images if desire.
veekay

Sounds about right to me.