Color Changes of Flowers

[voyager]

The last few years I've bought some orchids from HD and other places that look to be leftover stock the growers are unloading cheaply with local sellers.
I often take advantage of this to acquiring cheap orchids to spread around the yard.

I've noticed one thing.
Often the orchids will have a color change when they re-bloom after a year or two.
A Miltoniopsis whose base color was a brownish tan is now yellowish with a tanish hint.
A Catt that was a very dark, almost black, purplish is now still dark but a lighter shade.

I've read somewhere that the Catt's darker color could be caused by being kept under low light levels
after budding.
Not sure how the Miltoniopsis could have gotten the brownish coloring.

Anyone familiar with how growers can manipulate orchid flower coloring?
I think it's likely as a sales enhancement.

[estación seca]

They definitely inject dye into flower stems. You can see the scar. It's really noticeable on the genetically white Phals dyed blue.

[Ray]

The two most common environmental factors that affect color are temperature and light levels. Cool and bright favors the development of anthocyanins, giving deeper, more intense coloration.

Many years ago I had a phal that, over several years, varied from pink to white to yellow, seemingly randomly.

[Fairorchids]

Light & Temperature says it all. And, in particular the color red is temperature sensitive (comes through better at lower temperatures).

1. Hadley Cash (Marriott Orchids) once showed 3 slides of the same complex Paph, which he bought from New Zealand (reverse seasons).

• First time it bloomed for him was in July = brown flower.
• Second time it bloomed for him was in October = muddy color.
• Third time it bloomed for him was in February = red flower.

2. Here are two photos of flowers from the same plant, which received an Am/AOS last Saturday. First photo was taken of a February 2020 blooming. Second photo was taken yesterday.

[WaterWitchin]

And that is beautiful Kim! Love the color...especially the first one.

[SADE2020]

Originally Posted by estación seca

They definitely inject dye into flower stems. You can see the scar. It's really noticeable on the genetically white Phals dyed blue.

My 7yrs old insisted in getting a blue orchid last year and it was clear the cut and dyed in the spike, a week after she insisted in “try” the same with one of mine; with food coloring. Here we called “Pitufos” (Smurf). Pretty bizarre for my taste.

But seeing the Catts examples, good to know, I had no clue. Beautiful flowers

Here the one we got and the other is the attempt to dye one:

[fishmom]

It looks like your dye attempt worked pretty well!

[Roberta]

My Cleisocentron gokusingii (a truly "blue" orchid, color is slate blue with occasional tinge of blue-green) is very sensitive to temperature. http://orchidcentral.org/Images/Vand...gokusingii.jpg , http://orchidcentral.org/Images/Vand...rrillianum.jpg It blooms two or three times a year... when it blooms in the cool days of winter, the blue color is very distinct. Summer bloomings, the color is usually "washed out" to a pale gray.

(Photos are the same plant... I got it as Cliesocentrum merrillianaum, later found out it was gokusungii... merrillianum has longer, more fully terete leaves, waiting for a rebloom on that one)