john_ny

One of the "big deals" at the recent TPIE show were blue orchids. The people displaying these were kind of tight-lipped about the history of them, but it was the general opinion that they were dyed or some other way artificially manipulated, and the next time they bloomed, the flowers would be white. To me, they just looked a little too blue. When I inquired about the price, I was told that the plants were about double the cost of regular ones.

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John

Jananas Bananas

That is stunning! But I think they are dyed also, that's why they were tight lipped about it. You can just water any white (or light) flowering plant with some blue food coloring in their water and they will turn the color of the food coloring.

This is easy and fast with cut flowers too.

How to Color Flowers With Dye | eHow.com

~JaNan

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Jananas Bananas

jack hagenaars

dyed...indeed...and I think they are ugly

The Hollyberry Lady

justjoan

I was in one of our "fancy" grocery stores yesterday and there they were several Blue Phals, you could tell they were dyed, shouldn't mess with mother nature. They reminded me of what some folks did to baby chicks at Easter when I was a kid, they were dyed every color you could think of and then parents bought them for their kids only to have them die shortly there after, ugh!

Yug

There is no such thing as a 'blue' phal. in nature. There is no other possibility than that they were artificially colored. No self-respecting orchid enthusiast would be fooled by them (nor would be stupid enough to purchase one) Even my Vanda coerulea is not a true blue color (but pretty close). The only orchids I ever saw that approached a true blue color were a few in the thelemytra genus that grows primarily in Australia. Thelemytra ixioides Thelemytra venosa Thelemytra erosa Thelemytra nuda

Bob

John it would be too cool if these were legit...... you'll know what I mean though when I say they remind me of the "dyed" Glass fish that were available in the aquarium hobby years ago..... just too good to be true.
So....how much did you pay?

john_ny

Yes, Bob, I remember the dyed fish. As for these orchids, I only took a picture; didn't buy any. They just looked too phoney. Price-wise, I was told they were double the cost of regular ones. That would make them $18.00 to $24.00 each.

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John