Blue Phalaenopsis

I've never heard that one before, Dad, it sounds rather like an urban myth to me. Keep it going and tell us what it is like next year.

....Although I have to say that I've never come across a really blue Phalaenopsis! If it has been dyed, then, yes, I would think that any future flowers would be their natural colour.

are the leaves blue tinged? if yes then it is dyed. and the plant will revert back. The only way for the plant to take up the colour is in the water via the roots. Cut flowers are done this way, cut and stes popped in dye solution.

I suppose it depends on the shade of blue it is. Some 'blue roses are anything but.

A new one to me too. Would love to see a photo!

Me too...

there is an indigo blue one according to the orchid society, dont know how blue it is though

Maybe a variety or hybrid of Phalaenopsis violacea coerulea?

Pictures:

http://www.sapphiredragonorchids.com/SDOgallery.htm

It could be Tug, but here they are £30 or more at flowering size from specialist growers! It's not in the culture of UK garden centres to sell anything other than noids - it does happen occasionally, but they tend to be Paph or Den hybrids. One of the reasons (I doubt that I'm telling you anything new here) is that their care requirements are higher, with Phal violacea being notoriously picky.
I'm personally interested to see if there is a blue noid out there!

Please Meanie, what are "noids"? And £30 is the original asking price for this plant, so it might be a rarity...

Hellp Beattie - Twiggysdad has edited the question. Which is not a problem.
Noids means "no id", in as much as the grower has offered no provenance as to the plants parentage. For example; I bought a noid Phalaenopsis that is identical in every way to a Yu Pin Pearl belonging to one of my customers (who is a fanatical orchid grower). Now whilst visually he would "put the mortgage on it" there was no provenance attached, so it's still a noid! People in the orchid world can get very touchy about these things. Fact is, mine cost £6.99 when his cost over £20 as a non flowering size plant. Yet we both bought it for the same reason!! We liked them. There are orchid collectors who would not countenance having a noid under any circumstances!
The orchids I have, I bought because I liked them. I've only paid the extra for two that are tagged, plus one other that was reduced.
I hope that you don't think that I'm trying to bring a downer on all this - I'm not. I would love to find a genuinely blue Phal!
There is one real advantage to these "noids" - they are hybrids that have been developed by commercial growers to be quick and easy to raise and flower.

Thanks, Meanie, I am always learning.
Do commercial growers really put a dye in the water to colour the flowers of plants?

Not that I know of as far as orchids are concerned BA. What is not uncommon though in my experience, is for the colours to change a little once they're moved to the different conditions of your home.
Below is a link to a photo that I posted that demonstrates this. It's actually two photos together, but the text explains all....

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/132833-same-plant/member/meanie

No different to the plants in the garden really, but it demonstrates how the commercial growers techniques "manipulate" the product in order to achieve sales success. This particular plant was bought in bloom in the depths of winter.

Yes. I would guess that the first flower opened in a warm, humid tunnel and the second in a rather drier room in the house? But I see your point.

Added to a computer controlled light regime as well.....

Thank you Meanie. I'd realised that Twiggysdad had added more info, including the price. "Noid" is very useful shorthand.

True, Meanie. "Noids" are the norm here, as well. I was just hoping that one of the major growers suddenly grew some imagination and took a chance on some coerulea seedlings. Too much to hope for, probably!

What I'd really like would be a Vanda type blue in a Phal Tugbrethil!

That's a thought, Meanie!

Believe it or not, there is no such thing as a natural blue phalaenopsis orchid. From the dates written here i can see that this is recent, and that is because there is a new product on the market that is a in fact coloured, and if you check the label on it there will be a little paintbrush in a corner. Unfortunately the european sellers are more focused on quantity rather than quality, so it is hard to find a decent orchid. Also this was only being sold for christmas so it is not likely that you will find this again until november.

one of our local GC has a bright BLUE phalenopsis and I asked and was told 'dye'. Latest idea from the Netherlands apparently.

The Dutch growers will do anything to make money!

I would avoid them at all costs - a bit like dyed heathers. I just don't like them!

It's just plain wrong!

Yes, those dyed heathers look just terrible! Who buys them?! They look as if they've been dipped in poster paint by a naughty child.

Totally agree on the coloured heathers - dreadful!

Would-be breeders (or genetic engineers, or dyers) of blue flowers need to consider the uses of flowers in the garden and the home, and aesthetic sensibility. I suspect that hard phthalo blues will be a brief novelty, but the long term sellers would probably be soft periwinkles, blue-violets, light hazy-sky, and deep evening-sky shades.

How romantic that sound, Tug! ;-)

Betimes there is a touch of cloud-soft poesy 'mongst my dull, earthy prose! ; )

Who has been reading Shakespeare???? lol

Found this today.....

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orchid-hybrid-photos/19640-blue-phalaenopsis.html

Sorry, Meanie. It tells me that I need to log in to see whatever is on that page.

That's a shame.....
Quite a lot of info on there, mostly US centric. In the states they are grown by Silver Vase Orchids & Bromeliads of Homestead FL, based on white Phals. They're associated with a Dutch company called Floracultura and the process for introducing the colour has been patented. It should revert back to white on the rebloom.
Next time that I see a white Phal in the bargain bin, I'll grab it along with some food dye and see what happens.

lol, Meanie, you made me laugh. you think simply using food dye would be something that gets patented? And if you go to silvervase.com, or check any news source (sadly the Floricultura website itself doesn't show anything about this orchid, or at least none that I can see) you will see that it is stated as "not painted or sprayed", as well as taking between 48 to 90 hours to make it blue. Not even roses which go much faster than other plants (especially orchids which are rather slow plants) take longer than two days to get a color with food dye, so using that food dye can be ruled out. that, and the fact that the roots arent dyed blue when you buy them... but your free to try if you want.

We have sold hundreds of blue phalaenopsis, from Silver Vase in Florida. Upon close examination of the plants, it is clear that blue dye has been injected into the flower stems, probably just as one or two flowers begin to open. Silver Vase says they need one week's notice so they can "treat" the plants before filling an order.

There was a small, sharply pointed plastic tube in one of the shipping boxes, with remnants of blue dye inside it. It may be necessary for the little syringe to stay affixed to the stem, along with the dye, for several days, in order for enough dye to be absorbed by the stem and the flowers. There is also a blue tint to the edges of the leaves, especially on their under sides.

Using our own devised syringe, along with green food coloring dye, we turned a white phalaenopis green within a few days. St Patrick's day treasure, anyone?

Great observation and experiment Richsacher. When I was a school lab tech we used to dye flowers and leaves with food dye as one of the kids' experiments. They (the plant material, not the kids!) looked really pretty with colour all over and darker veins and edges.