Hi all!

I have a fantastically growing vanilla (I assume Vanilla planifolia but I
cannot be sure) that started out as a small, 12 inch piece and is now well
over 30 feet total length, including many branches off branches, etc. It has
numerous aerial roots coming off the nodes opposite leaves as expected.

The plant was purchased an at orchid show here in Jacksonville, FL probably
~3 yr ago. It is in a pot (presently indoors until it stays warm outside at
night), in african violet potting soil mixed with some perlite (this is what
the grower told me to use when I bought it. I do not know if it is optimal,
and I did not know any better at the time; plus, it has grown so well I did
not want to change it, i.e., I did not want to fix anything that was not
broken).

I was wondering if there is something I can do to get it to flower. At
http://clanorchids.com/culture/vanilla.html I read that the vines
"...should be tip pruned to induce flowering". Any suggestions on exactly
how to do this properly?

Any other comments or suggestions?

TIA.

Larry

Larry,

My understanding is that vanilla needs to climb to the highest point
available, then start back down before it feels ready to bloom.

How in the world are you caring for a plant that big???

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Larry" wrote in message
...
Hi all!

I have a fantastically growing vanilla (I assume Vanilla planifolia but I
cannot be sure) that started out as a small, 12 inch piece and is now well
over 30 feet total length, including many branches off branches, etc. It
has numerous aerial roots coming off the nodes opposite leaves as
expected.

The plant was purchased an at orchid show here in Jacksonville, FL
probably ~3 yr ago. It is in a pot (presently indoors until it stays warm
outside at night), in african violet potting soil mixed with some perlite
(this is what the grower told me to use when I bought it. I do not know if
it is optimal, and I did not know any better at the time; plus, it has
grown so well I did not want to change it, i.e., I did not want to fix
anything that was not broken).

I was wondering if there is something I can do to get it to flower. At
http://clanorchids.com/culture/vanilla.html I read that the vines
"...should be tip pruned to induce flowering". Any suggestions on exactly
how to do this properly?

Any other comments or suggestions?

TIA.

Larry

Larry,

My vanilla plant is about as old as yours. I bought it with three cuttings
in a pot. It sits on the greenhouse floor and the vines grow up a pole
covered with cocohusk stuff (coir?). The vine has put out roots all along
the post to anchor itself. At the end of the hot season it had reached the
top of the greenhouse and pole.

I plan to string the vines from hooks as it grows this summer. If I sell
the house the vanilla plant conveys with the greenhouse.

To date mine has not bloomed yet but it's approaching a size where I expect
to see flowers soon.

I mist the pole to feed the plant when I water. I broke the tip out of two
of the three plants last fall trying to get them to turn away from the glass
(fat fingers...damn).

Good growing,
Gene

Wow Larry, that is a fast growing plant? What do you feed it.
Interestingly, I was given three plants about 5 years ago & they were in
some kind of regular potting mix. I also have two other plants that
have hardly grown at all. So out of the 5 plants one has bloomed twice.
It was the best grower & then I repotted it in my cym mix & now looks
like it is going downhill?
Found this url which looks interesting.
http://www.sdahldtp.com/vanilla.htm

Remove peterpan for email reply

Cheers Wendy

Larry wrote:
Hi all!

I have a fantastically growing vanilla (I assume Vanilla planifolia but I
cannot be sure) that started out as a small, 12 inch piece and is now well
over 30 feet total length, including many branches off branches, etc. It has
numerous aerial roots coming off the nodes opposite leaves as expected.

The plant was purchased an at orchid show here in Jacksonville, FL probably
~3 yr ago. It is in a pot (presently indoors until it stays warm outside at
night), in african violet potting soil mixed with some perlite (this is what
the grower told me to use when I bought it. I do not know if it is optimal,
and I did not know any better at the time; plus, it has grown so well I did
not want to change it, i.e., I did not want to fix anything that was not
broken).

I was wondering if there is something I can do to get it to flower. At
http://clanorchids.com/culture/vanilla.html I read that the vines
"...should be tip pruned to induce flowering". Any suggestions on exactly
how to do this properly?

Any other comments or suggestions?

TIA.

Larry

Larry:

I've never grown vanilla myself, but we have a local grower who
produced flowers on a plant that clung to a small totem that was less than
3' tall. I wouldn't have believed that such a small vanilla could flower,
but I saw it myself- or, at least, due to the abbreviated longevity of the
flowers, saw it in bud. The tag was for a V. planifolia, and the overall
appearance of the plant was consistent with what I've seen as planifolia
elsewhere, but I didn't see it in flower so I can't say for sure it wasn't
another vanilla species. But that's what the tag read.

She grows it on the south side of her greenhouse, with not much
more than twinwall polycarbonate keeping the Arizona sun off of it. Plenty
of light, decent amount of heat, that sort of thing. Nothing fancy about
the substrate, no pruning, no convolutions or contortions of the vine,
nada. I get the impression from one of Withner's books that it is (or was)
grown in very high light in Puerto Rico. I don't have his book handy right
now, but I seem to recall something like 2/3 full sun in PR. The substrate
there is a bit different than typical orchid fare, heavy in limestone.

Anyway- like I said, I wouldn't have believed it myself if I
didn't see it. The leaves weren't much more than 4-6" in length, the pot
looked a little big for the plant, and the number of buds was pretty good
for each node. It didn't look like it was flowering out of stress, anyway.
You might top-dress with a bit of limestone to provide some calcium unless
you're already using a Cal-Mag type formula, and you might try throwing it
as much light as you can. How you're going to do that with a 30' python of
a planifolia is beyond me.

The address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Thanks to everyone for all their replies. Keep in mind that the plant is ~30
feet total length, including all its branches off of branches off of
branches, etc.

The plant is in a plastic pot with width, length and height each 18 inches.
I have a trellis at each of 2 adjacent sides, and the vine is wrapped around
the trellises as much as possible. It is presently inside during the winter,
but is normally kept outside in a screened in porch during the spring,
summer and fall months (I do not have a greenhouse [yet - maybe someday]).
When outside it is against 1 wall of the screened porch (facing South) and 1
wall of the house.

I add water with MSU fertilizer (a recent change); and frequently mist the
aerial roots with water with or without fertilizer.

Pictures can be viewed he
- http://www.lwpes.org/temp/vanilla1.jpg
- http://www.lwpes.org/temp/vanilla2.jpg
- http://www.lwpes.org/temp/vanilla3.jpg

Larry

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Larry,

My understanding is that vanilla needs to climb to the highest point
available, then start back down before it feels ready to bloom.

How in the world are you caring for a plant that big???

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Larry" wrote in message
...
Hi all!

I have a fantastically growing vanilla (I assume Vanilla planifolia but I
cannot be sure) that started out as a small, 12 inch piece and is now
well over 30 feet total length, including many branches off branches,
etc. It has numerous aerial roots coming off the nodes opposite leaves as
expected.

The plant was purchased an at orchid show here in Jacksonville, FL
probably ~3 yr ago. It is in a pot (presently indoors until it stays
warm outside at night), in african violet potting soil mixed with some
perlite (this is what the grower told me to use when I bought it. I do
not know if it is optimal, and I did not know any better at the time;
plus, it has grown so well I did not want to change it, i.e., I did not
want to fix anything that was not broken).

I was wondering if there is something I can do to get it to flower. At
http://clanorchids.com/culture/vanilla.html I read that the vines
"...should be tip pruned to induce flowering". Any suggestions on exactly
how to do this properly?

Any other comments or suggestions?

TIA.

Larry

Great pictures Larry, you certainly have trained it well. To me by the
looks of it, you may have to give it more light? (Just my guess)
Also do you get your MSU locally to avoid shipping?
Remove peterpan for email reply

Cheers Wendy

Larry wrote:
Thanks to everyone for all their replies. Keep in mind that the plant is ~30
feet total length, including all its branches off of branches off of
branches, etc.

The plant is in a plastic pot with width, length and height each 18 inches.
I have a trellis at each of 2 adjacent sides, and the vine is wrapped around
the trellises as much as possible. It is presently inside during the winter,
but is normally kept outside in a screened in porch during the spring,
summer and fall months (I do not have a greenhouse [yet - maybe someday]).
When outside it is against 1 wall of the screened porch (facing South) and 1
wall of the house.

I add water with MSU fertilizer (a recent change); and frequently mist the
aerial roots with water with or without fertilizer.

Pictures can be viewed he
- http://www.lwpes.org/temp/vanilla1.jpg
- http://www.lwpes.org/temp/vanilla2.jpg
- http://www.lwpes.org/temp/vanilla3.jpg


SNIP ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm sure you are right about the light. It gets better light during
nonwinter months. But I have to keep it inside and there is no place I can
keep it other than the front door (I'm lucky to be "allowed" to put it
there!).

I get my MSU from Ray. I just started using it about 2 mos ago.

Larry

"Wendy" wrote in message
news:%MNRd.62985$6u.27633@fed1read02...
Great pictures Larry, you certainly have trained it well. To me by the
looks of it, you may have to give it more light? (Just my guess)
Also do you get your MSU locally to avoid shipping?
Remove peterpan for email reply

Cheers Wendy

Ok I know what you mean about the lack of light I can't grow anything
inside. Thanks for the MSU info will order from him then.
Remove peterpan for email reply

Cheers Wendy

Larry wrote:
I'm sure you are right about the light. It gets better light during
nonwinter months. But I have to keep it inside and there is no place I can
keep it other than the front door (I'm lucky to be "allowed" to put it
there!).

I get my MSU from Ray. I just started using it about 2 mos ago.

Larry

"Wendy" wrote in message
news:%MNRd.62985$6u.27633@fed1read02...

Great pictures Larry, you certainly have trained it well. To me by the
looks of it, you may have to give it more light? (Just my guess)
Also do you get your MSU locally to avoid shipping?
Remove peterpan for email reply

Cheers Wendy

Lots of info from a lot of people on this one.
So here is mine.
Well crap, my vanilla folder is empty!! I must have taken it home
cause it isn't on any of the machines here!
Many years ago I got interested in Vanilla and I bought a well
established cutting of the Pompano (it is larger leaf and a bit
prettier than the Plani.
Anyway I did hours of research and the best info is from Hawaii where
they do big comercial operations. There was a man I communicated with
for some time (Doctor Wong?) There is a web site, do a search and it
should come up.
Basicly What I found is:
5 gallon bucket for the root ball
tree fern totem to your desired height
lots and lots of light
mist lightly every morning
fert. every week 100 -200 ppm
mist the roots and vine with fert as well
can take very hot during the day
let it go up then bend it down and make it start up again
you want bends cause that is where the blooms will form
more loops will give more flowers and better chance at beens
polinate with one quick thumb movement
It should be able to bloom around 5 feet but the Plani. dosen't seem
to untill 10 feet or so.
my best Pompano is wrapped so many times up and down a 4 foot pole
that it is heavier than the 3 gal pot it is in. I have to tie it to
the ceiling when it is inside
I have been growing it from a three leaf section for a little over 4
years and 2 weeks ago it just lost its first leaf and it wasn't evan
one of the first leaves it started with they are still green and
healthy lookin
also watch them care fully cause they are like ivy, the roots will
sneak into any nearby pot, wall, or structure when you are not looking
I'm sure I'm leavin things out but that should be enough to get one
going well

dude
Hi all!

I have a fantastically growing vanilla (I assume Vanilla planifolia but I
cannot be sure) that started out as a small, 12 inch piece and is now well
over 30 feet total length, including many branches off branches, etc. It has
numerous aerial roots coming off the nodes opposite leaves as expected.

The plant was purchased an at orchid show here in Jacksonville, FL probably
~3 yr ago. It is in a pot (presently indoors until it stays warm outside at
night), in african violet potting soil mixed with some perlite (this is what
the grower told me to use when I bought it. I do not know if it is optimal,
and I did not know any better at the time; plus, it has grown so well I did
not want to change it, i.e., I did not want to fix anything that was not
broken).

I was wondering if there is something I can do to get it to flower. At
http://clanorchids.com/culture/vanilla.html I read that the vines
"...should be tip pruned to induce flowering". Any suggestions on exactly
how to do this properly?

Any other comments or suggestions?

TIA.

Larry