Artificially Blue Orchids?

[ingse]

I have seen Phalaenopsis hybrids with a small hole on the flowerstem and the rim of the hole was pink.
This is a picture of some Phals that i think just had to be artificialy dyed with pink and blue color.
Its not likely that they will have the same strange coloring if they flower again. Picasa Web Albums - Inger - Gothenburg in...

[camille1585]

I was at an orchidshow in my city in France last month and one of the growers was selling some 'blue' phals. He says that he waters the (white blooming) plants with some special dye when the blooms are nearly all open, and within a few hours the blooms turn blue. As far as he knows it's non toxic for the plant, and they'll bloom perfectly fine (and white) afterwards.

As for shipping plants for the USA, not only do you need a phyto certificate, you will need CITES documents as well. A CITES form is good for one genus only, so if you want to send orchids from 5 genera for example, you will need 5 forms. I think in the US a CITES certificat costs something like $50-60, don't know about prices in europe. One thing you might need (but am not certain about) is import and/or export permits. Seeing the huge hassle that it is, if you just have plain supermarket Phals you may be better off giving them away and getting new ones in the USA.

[Ninesixteen]

Originally Posted by ingse

I have seen Phalaenopsis hybrids with a small hole on the flowerstem and the rim of the hole was pink.
This is a picture of some Phals that i think just had to be artificialy dyed with pink and blue color.
Its not likely that they will have the same strange coloring if they flower again. Picasa Web Albums - Inger - Gothenburg in...

My blue one has the same injection spots on the spike that look blue/purple. I assume that's how the flowers get colored. I think I'm going to attempt it myself with a different color and see what happens.