How old is that seedling with a 3″ to 4″ leafspan, and when will it bloom?
That seedling is probably about 3 years old… maybe a little older or younger (varies depending on genus). Don’t be alarmed by that, though. They grow really slowly at first… starting as a barely visible little ball of green lint in the agar… then they start to pick up steam. If you chart the growth it would look like an upward exponential growth curve… a slow start, then a quick rise. When starting from a 3″ to 4″ LS seedling, you can expect it to produce the first bud in 18 to 30 months (bear in mind that many orchids are fully mature at much smaller than this size, but if you are already into growing miniatures, you’re probably not learning anything new from this FAQ page). Age isn’t the only factor to consider — really it is leafspan that you want to watch, not overall age. Once a plant like a Phal or Paph hits 10 inches to 12 inches wide, you can expect a bud at any time. This is an average blooming size. Some plants will bloom smaller (the Brachypetalum section Paphs; the
