Question
Hi,

I've just recently gotten into cymbidiums.  I have a colleague at work who told me that if you keep cymbidium plants with different colored flowers close to each other the colors of the flowers will eventually intermix.  I was skeptical about this.  How can this happen if the cyms are kept in separate pots.

Anyway, I went over to my parents place the other day and saw that this might actually be true.  They have cyms with white petals and a red/pink lip.  This year when the flowers opened, the white petals were now intermixed with green.  The cym has been in close proximity to both green and yellow cyms.

So will cym flowers eventually change color if kept in close proximity to other cyms with a different color?  If so, how can this happen?

Thanks,
Frank

Answer
I am not familiar with this claim.  Any difference in coloring due to close proximity to other cymbidiums would probably be due to changes in light level when cymbidiums shade one another.  It is well known that the expression of color is, in part, the result of the amount of light a plant gets.