Deflasked cattleya, first time need all advice

[ninad]

I got this flask from Big Island, when I was there on vacation, I deflasked 3 weeks ago, I live in new england, so putting it in humidity dome on heat mat, any experienced orchid grower know how many years it will take in suck setting to bloom?

-- I have MSU formula for tap water from kelly's corner , which I am giving in half of recommended concentration and Organics Rx Sea Kelp 100 Seaweed Fertilizer in water

-- In 5 weeks I noticed some root growth on majority of orchid babies
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I am in new England area, I created humidity dome with PC fan as ventilation which turns on 15min per hour. With humidity meter I checked humidity range from 75%-99% all the time, whole dome sits on heat mat, so temperature in the morning is around 81-85F and in night its falls to 62-67F. I water them once in 10 days when I see it start getting dry with weak dose of MSU+seawed kelp. In 5 weeks I see many of the babies root growth
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Any advice I should follow?
How much growth I should expect in 6months, 1year?
when should I transplant into individual pot?

[ninad]

Update: after 5 weeks now ( 1 week with grow light) I can see many babies now with sudo bulbs and many new leaves

[estación seca]

They look great! I would keep doing what you're doing. I would move to the next pots when they outgrow these pots. That might be 1-2 years. I think crosses like this one bloom for the first time in 4-5 years out of the flask.

[ninad]

I am going to use this thread to document whole progress of this experiment

[isurus79]

Yep, seems like all is well. Out of curiosity, what media are you using? Are you getting good root growth throughout the media?

[ninad]

Currently I am using sphagnum moss, yes roots are growing really good some are coming out from the bottom.
I am hoping after 22 week I might put them in fine bark, what do you think?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by ninad

Currently I am using sphagnum moss, yes roots are growing really good some are coming out from the bottom.
I am hoping after 22 week I might put them in fine bark, what do you think?

I'm a big fan of not fixing things that aren't broken!!

[estación seca]

Seedlings of anything are best transplanted when as large as possible. They will flower faster if you do it that way. Wait until they're outgrowing their pots or the medium starts breaking down, whichever happens first. It will be harder to disentangle them but it will be worth it.

[ninad]

Agreed.
currently in 2.5inch pots 2-3-4 seedings sharing single pot, with current progress I predict around 4 months ( 22 weeks)more they will out grow, I am still researching which media is best for them

PC FAN is bit strong for this small greenhouse, when it turns ON ( every 15min per hour), humidity drops to 50% at the end of its 15min which climbs to 99% again when its next turn comes up.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by ninad

PC FAN is bit strong for this small greenhouse, when it turns ON ( every 15min per hour), humidity drops to 50% at the end of its 15min which climbs to 99% again when its next turn comes up.

Remember these guys don't do well with 99% humidity over the long term. You should probably be hardening these off soon so they are adapted to ambient air RH.