Left Phal in water for two days... now roots are bright red... what!!?

[RosieC]

This is actually a question from my brother. This is all I know...

"Left my orchid sitting in a pot full of water for 2 days over the weekend. Now the roots are all bright red. Anyone know what that means on a Phal?"

I can't answer. I've asked if there was anything red in fertilizer (don't know if he was fertilizing or not). I've never had this happen and I've forgotten them several times in the past, but not had this happen.

Anyone got any other ideas?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Any photos?

I myself just soaked a Phal in a small container and it didn't turn red. What your brother experienced is not a usual occurrence.

[RosieC]

No, I didn't think it usual. I'm asking him for pics.

[ronaldhanko]

Tell him he shouldn't put food coloring in the water. Just joking of course, but that is really odd. Hope someone has an explanation.

[dickjo]

A lot of the Phals sold in stores like Lowes and HD have combination of food coloring it them in order to get the weird colors they sell. If so the color may have bled out of the plant

[greengarden]

Could it be a Fusarium infection?

[gerneveyn]

The aerial root tips on my phals are often pinkish when they're in active growth. Years ago i soaked a phal in a diluted sugar and superthrive solution for a couple hours maybe more, and if I am remembering correctly the roots and base of the phal turned a deep pink.

[RosieC]

Aparently it was all of the roots which were still under the water, those above the water were green.

Talking to folks on facebook various ideas have been suggested, including cold water causing pink growth, light levels (but dismissed that as it's the lower roots in the pot).

However at the moment the main thought is something in the fertiliser. He used the Orchid Baby Bio, not sure if that is available elsewhere in the world but it comes in a pink bottle. We've not looked closely at the actual liquid but my brother will do that when he get's home to see if it has any pink tint to the colour. If so maybe it's absorbed the colour.

[Silje]

Originally Posted by dickjo

A lot of the Phals sold in stores like Lowes and HD have combination of food coloring it them in order to get the weird colors they sell. If so the color may have bled out of the plant

Now I'm intrigued.... is it possible to feed a phal blue (for instance) food color and that that will be coming out in the flowers? When would you need to give them coloring to get it into the flowers?

[greengarden]

Yep, you can do the same thing with daisies, etc too and they can even seperate the vessels in a cut flower in something like a rose and put each into a seperate colour and end up with a rainbow flower to sell at the markets. Theoretically if it's just food colour it wouldn't hurt it.