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Vanilla Orchids
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Posted by
tropicbreezent (
My Page) on
Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 7:28
| My vanilla orchids have been flowering for the past couple of months, so thought I'd post a few pictures.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| Wow that is amazing! How do you get them to bloom? I''m in Ohio and mine has never bloomed. I'm hoping you can share your tips for success. I've been wondering if my location, climate and general lack of ideal conditions are to blame. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| Thanks for all the comments. They need high humidity, and of course warmth. But usually they don't flower until the vines get quite long (and thick). Flowering is from the top, so if given the chance to climb high they'll end up flowering out of sight. They need very little by way of fertiliser, probably a lot less than most other orchids. But of course, some fertiliser always helps. And good strong light, even direct sun doesn't worry them provided the humidity is high. Like a lot of tropicals they're far less tolerant of dry heat, which is a problem in houses where the air is usually very dry. Good luck with yours. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| Congratulations, I'm jealous! I hope mine flower some day. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| If you give it plenty of light, keep up the humidity and let it grow long you should have no worries. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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Tropic, you should tell the posters here where you live in Australia. No worries indeed if zone 11 conditions can be provided and there is lots and lots of growing space.
I've only ever seen one plant and it was rambling around a specialist glass-house set up for Phalaenopsis conditions. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| Well, I'm in zone 12b or 13a (not sure the exact one) and mine are outside growing on trees. But I was going by postings in other forums where people say they got them to flower indoors after letting the plants trail around bright windows. They also regularly misted their plants. There were also some who grew them in greenhouses of normal height. They say the plants just wind their way around inside. But during winter where parts of the plants touch the walls there's usually some frost burn. The rest of the plant stays okay. So it is possible if you pay attention to those details. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| Hi, I just received a VANILLA PLANIFOLIA and am looking for ideas of where to plant it. It looks like yours are growing against bamboo. I'm in SW Florida and we have a fairly good climate for orchids. I don't have bamboo but I read somewhere that you could train them against poles and they would still be fine. Any help is appreciated. Thanks |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| The bamboo is just in the background, the Vanilla (same species as yours, the most common) is on a tall (4 metre) old tree stump. Holds more moisture than bamboo would. But better to keep the support/pole reasonably short. My first plants were on some Carpentaria palms. In no time the Vanilla disappeared up into the crowns, about 20 metres up. Never knew they were flowering until one day a frond came down bringing some orchid vine with it and flowers. So then I started putting broken off pieces on shorter stumps and have seen more flowering. A couple of times palm fronds have loosened some of the vines and they've hung down closer to the ground and flowered. If you've got a suitable outdoor climate you can put them just about anywhere on anything, except the ground, and they'll grow. Old wood that absorbs/holds moisture is ideal. I've probably got close to 20 plants now, they're easy to propagate from pieces. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| thanks for your comments. I have a lot of Vandas that don't need planting, I just hang them from trees and they flourish with no attention, although I divide them every two years. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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I do not know about these Climate Zones. The new and the old are confusing and then there is the difficulty of micro-climates. The other description of here is "east coast temperate" more like "east coast erratic".
I'd love to able to grow Vandas outside but I'm stuck with trying to grow some "cool" tolerant ones in a glass-house..... as for growing a vanilla maybe the result would be like growing Devils Ivy on the glass-house floor. It went rampant and was despatched to the compost heap.
Still, that is what orchid growing is all about, fiddling around, and sometimes trying to grow the impossible. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| Noseyrosey, if Vandas grow hanging in trees without attention then you'll have no trouble with growing Vanilla as well. In fact, I think Vanilla will cope with a little less humidity than Vanda. Arthurm, if you mean Epipremnum aureum - Devils Ivy, then probably yes. The Vanilla would probably go rampant but as a single stem, they don't branch. If bits break off they'll take off as separate plants. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| I grow one indoors in NJ zone 6. I made a square slat trellis for it 16" X 16" x 5 foot high. I've had it for 8 years, it started flowering in the last 2 years. I have 3 active vines which I'm sure are connected to a single stem somewhere. I have read that commercial growers keep them at 6' tall by bending them around a frame. They do this so it's easier to harvest the beans and because bending the vines causes more flowers for some reason. Every time my plant flowered it did so after the growing end of the vine was damaged. Twice the end got what looked like crown rot and fell off, one time I broke the end while trying to bend it around a support. It seems like damage to the tip directed energy to the lower nodes causing flowers and off shoots. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| I've heard that too, when they bend over they start flowering. Although, I have a variegated one on a short stump (chest height) which has bent over a few times but still no flowers. But after they've reached a big height and have run out of support, they must bend down if they continue to grow. I guess that's the plants way of knowing it's at the end of the road and must go into the next stage - flowering. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| I read somewhere that this orchid should be "planted" during a waning moon. Anyone else heard that or it perhaps some Costa Rican thing (I think I read it on a Costa Rican vanilla farm site). I had the most amazing time in Costa Rica and am working on re-creating a mini rain forest on my lanai and the surrounding landscape. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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| I heard about planting by the moon many years ago but have never tried it. I have a friend who does, but results don't seem different. Haven't heard any thing specifically about Vanilla though. I've got the main part of my garden as rainforest. Some plants I've actually collected from rainforests, but most are bought ones that look like they belong. |
RE: Vanilla Orchids
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Nosey
there are several species of Vanilla that are native to florida though i've never found them lol. my main objection to Vanilla is that it takes up so much room,shy flower and MUST get rather large to flower at all. There are so many spectacular tropical vines . I've been trying for several years now to grow many species in a natural state . My Vanda bed is coming along and my trees are mature enough to allow the secondary growth . I seriously doubt it will ever look anything like Costa Rica thoughlol good luck Give some though on winter protection as well as wind , They are the tough part gary |
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