cattleyas, how old before their first flower?
 

Hello all,
I bought some 2 year old babies recently. How old are they before they are mature enough to support flowering?

It depends on how well you grow them and what is their ancestry. Most hybrids are about 4-7 years old before they bloom. If you treat them really well it's on the lower end of the range.

Oh really? That long huh....looks like patience will be the order of the day. Thanku, I will stop checking them every day to see if a spike is coming. Lol

Seven years has been cited, if everything goes right: Cattleya skinneri

Longer if everything is not perfect. A friend raised one Cattleya cross from seed to blooming over a period of 15 years.

Look for an orchid society near you. You will learn a lot from them.

Thank you very much.

I bought 3 bag babies (nearly dead) in 2013. So they were about 2 years old and very sick. One died. The largest one a Blc. Lawless Frieshutz 'goldenzelle,' is just getting its first viable buds this season. That is 5 years since I bought them. They were about 2, from what people tell me about bag babies. That would make the plant seven years old. The second smaller one is a Blc. George King 'serendipity' and it is still not ready, but producing lots of growth. I think faster growing are iwanagaras/Jackfowlierra and the brassovola crosses. Anyway, that has been my experience.

All replies are saying the same thing, so I really was being optimistic hoping for results in their 3rd year. Thanku very much. Appreciated.

No problem! :D

In the meantime, they are gorgeous plants with their gorgeous thick leaves. What kinds do you have????

I am totally stoked at watching the tiny little baby buds (2)
develop. They will be bright yellow with some red on the lip. Some time in winter they will burst out. I think maybe some cattleyas do bloom in the warm weather, but as far as the ones I have come across they are winter bloomers.

I have 30 2yr old babies in an assortment of types and colours. Some r LC's some r BLC and a few SLC's. Sh b exciting in a couple of years!