"dying" plants to get different flower color

[mjehughes]

stupid me, I saw a "blue" phal on ebay - advertised as the "worlds first blue"
looked hard at the photos, read the description and purchased 2 - really stupid, since they were a bit pricey. thought maybe someone had lucked out with a cross or something..
Just got them and they are white phals that have been watered with blue food dye like florists do to change color of carnations etc. the roots are blue, leaf edges are blue, flowers are not uniform color, any cut/damaged edge is darker. so paid triple price for a white unnamed phal.. "floral piece".. just a warning.. hopefully not a new trend in plants.

 

[gonewild]

If they advertised as "the worlds first blue" you should send them back and demand a refund. Report them to ebay as fraud.

 

[jtrmd]

You got the 'Blue Mystique'.They were injected with blue dye in the spike as it was developing.Only blue once,but if that spike branches you may get lighter blue flowers.

 

[goldenrose]

:sob::sob: sorry to hear, as they've been doing this for awhile now.
I agree with Lance, you have nothing to lose, right?
Next time you're faced with this type of temptation - just ask us, that's what we're here for!

 

[Heather]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that but I agree, I'd report them.

 

[mjehughes]

Thanks - Waiting to hear back from the seller.. . the statement as the "worlds first blue phal" to me meant natural - though color seemed a little unnatural and I should have known.. nature doesn't generally change by that big of leap , but do get this color blue in other plants. so they can get the first "red", orange, green etc.. just inject with the right color
SO my face is "red", turning blue about being soooo stupid.. but they should disclose that this is a "dyed" plant since there are phal violaceas that are being promoted as blue -er.. and plant sales should be different than "floral centerpiece".. plants were so jumbled up in shipping due to poor packing they won't make a return trip very well.. but too much money to ignore - I would rather have good natural phals or paph plants in the space..

 

[likespaphs]

http://www.silvervase.com/blue-mystique.php

 

[SlipperFan]

And since you won't be "infusing" it next time it blooms, it will be white.

I saw them being sold locally for $50.00. Then I saw them from a vendor at an orchid show for $35.00. No, I did not buy one!

 

[suss16]

Saw a bunch at Lowes for $19.99... they appear to be hot sellers. They ain't my thing, but like a bunch of the "orchids" they sell in the mass market world - they sell fast, cheap and most get tossed when they wilt.

If you want to call them "orchids" you can, I prefer to consider them to be a generic novelty plant. So in that vein I am cool with them, I just don't buy like I don't buy gold dusted poinsettia's.

 

[Ernie]

Yeah, they're all over the place. HD for $20. If the listing made them seem at all natural, I'd push for a refund. A vendor put some in an exhibit at a show and the show committee asked them to remove the plants or be DQ'ed.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

They're all over my local Home Depot. And pretty popular. I told some people buying one that the color wouldn't last, but they didn't care.

 

[Paph Wrangler]

A lady that I work with got one, thinks it's great, and offered it to me when it's done blooming (I'm the office orchid rescue center!!), then got offended when I declined. They look like an abomination. I might be able to stomach them if the blue color was at least even......the one she has is blooming worse with each bud. Blech!!

 

[Heather]

Where I work, the orchids are all fake. But I don't think anyone notices. Apple employees have a weird penchant for those green plants that flower just like the plant but red. I'm not sure what they are called but I love watching them being "cared" for.

 

[Marc]

A while ago I visited a garden center and there were tablets filled with mollested Orchids. Lot's of Phally hybrids were the blue dye was still oozing out of the hole were it was injected.

 

[goldenrose]

A lady that I work with got one, thinks it's great, and offered it to me when it's done blooming (I'm the office orchid rescue center!!), then got offended when I declined. They look like an abomination. I might be able to stomach them if the blue color was at least even......the one she has is blooming worse with each bud. Blech!!

A while ago I visited a garden center and there were tablets filled with mollested Orchids. Lot's of Phally hybrids were the blue dye was still oozing out of the hole were it was injected.

EEEEWE! and probably oozing with virus too!

 

[SlipperFan]

I see that our Meijer stores are now carrying them -- for $35.

 

[likespaphs]

...those green plants that flower just like the plant but red....

bromeliads?

 

[Heather]

No.

 

[Ernie]

...those green plants that flower just like the plant but red. I'm not sure what they are called but I love watching them being "cared" for.

Do spaths come in red?

 

[Marc]

Do spaths come in red?

I think were looking for Anthuriums?