From seedlings in a flask to adulthood

[Ephemere]

I have many orchids in my collection, but they are all potted and doing well. I have never purchased seedlings in a flask, so am a novice in this field. My interest is in buying cattleya seedlings in a flask (price is $37.00 per flask before shipping, is that reasonable?). Approximately how many plants do flasks normally contain and how does one take care of these? Also, when can one plant the seedlings individually (size) and especially how does one go about that (procedure) since they are in a flask?

Thank you very much for your help and guidance!

Cheers, Michael

[Baloney]

Depending on the size of the flask, you might get as few as 5-10 seedlings, or perhaps 20-50. You should ask the seller how many seedlings there are in the flask that you're thinking of getting.

The other thing to understand is that from seedling to a flowering plant, you would probably be looking at 3-5 years... so... if you're impatient for blooms like me, you might be better off just buying flowering-size plants

A quick google search on orchid flasks will lead you various sites that have some simple flasking guides, such as this one:

De-flasking and Community pots