cattleya sheath not opening

[jcaballero]

I have 2 cattleyas with several sheaths on each one and they are not opening. They have been like this for about 3 weeks. Is this normal?

[Lagoon]

Do you have buds in them? If you do normally their pretty good and getting themselves free when the time is right.
If you don't have buds inside the sheaths then you'll have to wait until the buds do develope. And that can take sometime.

[Bud]

sometimes the sheath dries up and I just dont mind them, they just form buds inside....even if it remains green....it takes a month to even escertain if there is buds forming inside the sheath and it takes four to six weeks more before the buds develop into blooms....patience is all you need: Orchids dont spike and bloom flowers in a week....the longer the staying power the longer the development....it takes 3 months for a Phal to bloom from a spike.....because it takes an average of a month and a half for the blooms to stay fresh until it withers

[tucker85]

Sheaths form at the same time that the pseudobulb grows. But buds don't form in the sheaths until the plant is ready to bloom. That could be several months later. Only a small percentage of cattleyas bloom in summer. Most of them bloom sometime between early fall and spring.

[jcaballero]

Originally Posted by Bud

....patience is all you need

I guess this is all I need. One of the cats did flower last year, but I forgot how long it took to bloom. Thanks all.