Florists for years have been manipulating orchid flower colours by adding food dyes to their watering.
Could the same technique be used to alter the bud colour?
Has anyone tried it?
I think this would be an interesting experiment with little or no downside…
I hate dies added to hydroponic solutions especially BLUE dye added to CaNO3! Think about it? Yellow and blue make GREEN! Yes they change the color of your plants artificially to give them a false healthy look when in fact they’re yellower than they should be!
Also it affects the chemical testing I use called bromothol BLUE screwing me at both ends! I changed suppliers of CaNO3 after they started dying their product like miracle grow (cough cough joke) and all the others! They wouldn’t even hear my complaints they just arrogantly pressed forward with the changes.
If it was clear customers wouldn’t trust or buy it. You have to be able to see it…Nutes would look like water otherwise. Buy dry powders instead…and you save money by not paying for water.
I meant food dyes. Hey, I was only wondering.
Jackie Boy,
don’t do it , it will *KILL the plant:x:…copper filings are used here in Leek Land to change the colour of hydrangeas
Wee Jim
Does he mean Cu(copper) or Ca(Calcium)?
@WickedAle I make my own food from the purest raw chemical compounds and sulfates, when it’s mixed with water it’s light orange mostly from the Fe DTPA, the bloom is MPK (food grade) and it’s as clear as water as is the CaNo3 (mixed separately to avoid precipitation). The last thing I want is any dies, preservatives or fillers.
Liquids are a ripoff! They sit on the shelves sometimes for months chemically precipitating and distorting the stated N-P-K values on the label.
@Shatter I agree. Just started using MaxiBloom, but it is a bit more challenging to get the powders to dissolve properly and maintain the pH like GH Flora trio does. I practically never had to pH adjust.
Jimbo,
My Mum used to empty the tea leaves (way before bags) over the hydrangeas in the front garden. This was way back in 1966 and for probably a long time before.
She got a unique colour and won best-at-show on many occasions.
There are many natural ways to stain the water.
Anyway, I was thinking wrong.
If you’re going to burn it… who gives a feck what colour it is?
I have to monitor my pH every couple days, and PPM, more as the salts build up before flushing, it’s a pain in the ass but well worth it knowing the Ionic bonds and their characteristics over time, with liquids you never know how many atoms have bonded and precipitated unless you get your mix straight off the production line!
Dry powders are pretty stable. Shelf life on most dry powders in nutes are >2-5yrs. I’m in DWC so no buildup.
Get a small cup full of hot water and mix your dry nutes in it. That is what I do with my drykoolbloom
@HornHead Was going that same direction. Heard using a quart jar and hot water and shake, shake, shake until nothing drops out of solution. Don’t want to go to hot though because you will break down nitrates and the metal chelates. GH recommends <75F which is really low considering what you can get out of your tap.
@WickedAle hell, I figure it’s only in the hot (tap hot) for a minute then it gets dumped in the cool water. On a side note, a shaker cup would work wonders
Jaques
You coud put coloured cellophane over a pair of specs and then its any colout you like.
This weekend is ramping up to be cold as a well diggers arse by the way:scream:
Duck, duck… Go!
It would be most unusual to target an individual of such insignificance as you and me.
You might arouse suspicions and further investigations by using TOR.
I’ve long suspected the software.
In answer to your original question… no, adding red food dye won’t turn the buds red. I came, I dyed, I failed.
James,
Please swap this personal conversation over to my green room.
how do i do that ?