Seedling cattleya care?

[Orchids&Unicorns]

I just got a little seeding cattleya. One of those that comes in a little 2inch pot in a mesh bag. It is Cattleya Caudebec 'Carmela' and looks to be nice and healthy. Does anyone have any tips on how I should care for it? I have a Blc. Hawaiian Leopard 'Mei-Ling' that is doing well out on my front porch but this new one seems so small and delicate. I don't want to do anything to harm it! Also how long will it take before it is blooming size and how big do these plants get? Thanks for the help

[TwoStems]

I also have one of those little seedling catts that I bought last year. I keep it under fairly bright light and near my humidifier and it seems to be doing really well. You can find basic cattleya culture here. The hardest part for me is making sure I water it enough; being in such a small pot it dries out fairly quickly. Your best bet is to follow the orchid sheet in the link. If anyone else has more info I hope they chime in

[Orchids&Unicorns]

Thanks for the link I was mostly concerned about the watering as I seemed to remember that the seedlings didn't like to dry out as much and since the pot is so small, it's pretty much dry by the next day after watering. It is growing a new root though Wonder if I should put it into a 4inch pot now or wait?

[TwoStems]

A photo would be really helpful in determining if it needs to be repotted. My gut says you can wait, I've had mine for about a year and it's still in the same pot. It's thriving right now so I don't want to touch it until it *really* needs a new pot. Glad the link was helpful!!

[bronco]

I bought 2 of those seedlings also. I repotted it as soon as I got it home,in a small clay pot. here are pics of when it was first repotted and a few days ago.
Denny

[bronco]

Here are a few pics from todat...
Denny

[TwoStems]

Wow, these are quite a bit bigger than the one I bought! Unless the camera is fooling me As long as they are seemingly happy in these new pots, I would leave them; you don't want to disrupt them too often or they won't put out new roots and establish themselves in the new pot. I would suggest adding a thing layer of sphag on top to keep the moisture in - as you said, they don't stay wet very long. Just make sure if you add sphag that you don't over water them!

[orchids^_^]

Ditto to All the people above!
Here's a table showing about how long it takes to bloom and Cattleya.
Standard catts:
2.5"-3, 2-3 years to bloom
3.5", 1-2 years to bloom
4-4.5", Near blooming size, 12 to 18 months to blooming
5-up Blooming size, to bloom in season.
Compact catts:
Blooming size in 3-3.5" pots
Mini catts:
blooming size in 2.5-3 pots
These are just for an estimate, it really depends on the environment and how it's cultivated.
And for the plants, they are pretty healthy and I wouldn't disturb them and I would just let it adapt to the new habitat.
Great buys and good luck!
Alex

[Halloamey]

Denny, very nice healthy looking seedlings, my only concern is that, they seem to be potted a bit to deep, you should always let the base of the bulbs and the rhizome out of the medium, as if peeping out. If you want to remedy this, you do not need to unpot and repot, just remove some media near the rhizome and it should be fine. Or else you could just give it a little tug up that will also work.

[Orchids&Unicorns]

Great pics! Yours look just like mine - which I did go ahead and repot. She already has three new root nubs poking out and seems very happy