Cattleya: Blooming Age

[chrisa]

Hello, everyone.
I just did a quick walk through my cattleyas, some are young, some mature, but I began to wonder how old does a cattleya need to be before it blooms. The ones I recently purchased are probably at least three years old (that is my best guess) they have about 4 to 5 young leaves. I have read some great post from this and other forums and learned that it is all about the right light, right watering, right time of year, different types take longer/shorter times, etc. etc. etc. One interesting fact that I noticed from observing my collection and have read is that not every new leaf will produce a bloom...that's good to know so I don't stress and expect a bloom with every new leaf.

But my quest today is to learn, on average, how old does a catt need to be before it will bloom. My Blc. Sarah Palin bloomed when it looked fairly young and only had four leaves, she is about to bloom again in a few days. The others....taking their time...

Any advice?

[zainal abidin]

Chris this is the most tricky question to answer though I'm not the catt fan but I can elaborate little bit, actually it's depend on the species itself in nature in optimum condition they can bloom as what you said 3 years and above, from my experience I had Rhyncolaelia digbyana after deflasked I noticed it is very slow growing plant almost about 5 years then it begin to through away the first flower, well maybe my area is not suitable at the beginning, now based on my observation I found this species can tolerate direct sunlight and since then every new pseudobulb almost never fail me.
That is my 10 cent observation.

[Ryan Young]

There are several determining factors, daylight length, and temp being the 2 most environmentally contributing. Others would be nutrient intake and water absorption, which most growers have control over better than the first two. If the first two aren't what the plant expects it doesn't produce the sheath and or buds.
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[nlnelson]

I am far from an expert on this topic, but in my experience, size may be a better indicator than age. I have mini-catts, which get between 4 and 8 inches tall before they reach maturity, and some catts are 2 feet tall or more. So, your Sarah Palin may have simply been a smaller catt and therefore bloomed when it looked to be young (but was actually mature). I generally look around online at others' photos of the varieties I have (or, photos of their parents, if it is a new cross) to see how big the plants need to be to bloom.

Good luck, but you're right, don't stress over every potential new bloom. A watched orchid never fails to take its time blooming