Why has my celery failed to turn red?

[SciFiSam]

We did a little at-home science experiments, chopping the ends off two sticks of celery and putting them in glasses of water containing food colouring. The blue one eventually took up the colour (and looks really pretty), but the red one hasn't changed at all.

Any idea why this could be or what we could do to change it?

[Joey P]

Slice it (on a bias for added pizzaz) and make sure the red is being pulled up through the veins.

[SciFiSam]

Originally Posted by Joey P

Slice it (on a bias for added pizzaz) and make sure the red is being pulled up through the veins.

I did that for both of them already. Guess there's no harm in doing it again.

[Joey P]

I mean, do it up near the top to see if the red is even being drawn up through the celery, when you cut it, you'll be able to see little colored dots (or lines if you cut it on the bias) where it get's pulled up.

[Harmonious Discord]

I don't know how much of the stalk your using, so i don't know if you could have not known which end was the base. Did you put it in the water upside down?

[Nametag]

Most reports I found on Google indicate no problem with red dye reaching the leaves. One teacher reported that red dye wilted the celery, but many other photos show successful experiments.

What was in your food coloring? Red #40?