Issues with Growing Vanilla

[@AlohaSusan]

Thanks Bill for your informative video about vanilla orchids! Mine is growing up and across our carport. We were given a cutting a couple years ago, I used the technique you shared in a previous video to get it started. Fingers crossed we’ll get flowers one day!

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Make sure to train the vine sideways and prune the tips in fall to late summer. This will cause it to flower.

[@KeithKropf]

Mahalo Bill, more very good info. I have several hundred feet of vanilla vine taking over part of my greenhouse, waiting for me to build some suitable support and shade for it to grow. Meanwhile, I've had only one bunch of about 6 flowers which I unsuccessfully tried to pollenate, so no beans. I started all my plants from one or two node cuttings - either one or two leaves and a section of stem. I dipped both cut ends of the stems in some barely melted bees wax, then I laid about 5 cuttings in a 3 gallon pot that was about ¼ full of mostly pearlite with a little potting soil. I had about 15-20 pots and I did get most of the cuttings to root. These have grown into a huge intertwined mat over a foot thick under one of my greenhouse tables, and some vines came up thru the hog panel tables and have tried to grow around everything above. Some day, I'll build them a permanent home, and hopefully I can get Terri to be the pollinator. Good luck with yours! Aloha, Keith

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

You go to a lot more work than I ever have to grow this plant. I just make sure the cuttings are right side up and do not touch soil.

[@KeithKropf]

@@GreenGardenGuy1 good to know they don't like you to bury those roots. I've got some uncut, ends of long vines, in the greenhouse now that I buried in some black cinder. Some of them seem to be rooted - I think these were roots that started growing into pots of other plants nearby. But several of the other roots have just shriveled up.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Black cinder is a poor media but it is inert so it will work with vanilla. The problem is soil and soil microbes. Stick to inert materials like coconut coir, cinder or pine bark. Shredded tennis show would work even.@@KeithKropf

[@KeithKropf]

Thanks Bill, I will switch to coco coir. I was thinking, since vanilla wants to send roots out at every leaf node, would wrapping a post with coco coir and letting the vines grow on that - mist the whole thing with a weak fertilizer. What do you think about a setup like that? I've been going to put together an automated misting system for stuff like tillandsias and orchids? @@GreenGardenGuy1

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

It's so humid here I do not bother with misters but I do use coconut fiber mat on posts for dragon fruit and I apply fish emulsion to the posts.@@KeithKropf

[@MIA_DaDe]

Greetings from Miami. Great video! Thanks for sharing! I've a handful of vines growing up and into the branches of several trees (olive, mulberry and Pride of Barbados shrub) and to your point they tend to self-root if one of the vine branches touch the ground. One vine flowered after 3 years and for all my best at pollinating around 12 flowers.. I only have two pods. Oh well. Any, thanks for the insight into your vanilla plant experience.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Sure thing. Pollinating vanilla takes practice. I am poor at it but I know people in Hawaii who can get every flower to take. You have to get up early and work fast.

[@violethouseworth5943]

You know, the farmers that like to think outside the box>>I live in zone 6 >>>I am growing dragonfruit, chocolate sapote,sugar apple,,,ice cream bean>Panama berry and blackberry jam>Have tried many a time with vanilla and like you said they are finicky>>Fig is the focus of this year>>>I try to focus on one main tree a year and I always go overboard>>Love to grow from seed>>>

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

To each there own on crops. We will be facing global food shortages because of weird weather and wars. People who have skills to grow crops will be needed. What ever it is that grows best under your zone 6 climate is probably the best crop to raise. Trying to grow tropical crops in temperate regions is a current trend that has been on going for a while. The best crops in a given area are the ones that thrive with little attention. These tend to produce the greatest yield and highest quality. Under the climate in Hawaiian mountains the vanilla isn't very finicky. It just has certain parameters that must be met. I thought I was smart using existing plants as shelter but the loss of foliage messed it up. Artificial shade and structure will be more reliable. It took too many years to grow these vines out and now I'll be starting half way back again. Good luck with your project. I assume you must have a pretty good sized hot house for this stuff. The three trees you grow are huge here in Hawaii. Inga is frightening it grows so large and fast. Aloha

[@mariainesmenabarretosulliv5022]

Is possible to get a vanilla seed to plant 🌱?

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Yes but it isn't done. The seeds are the part of the vanilla plant we eat. Orchid seed is like dust and is started in petri dishes on agar. It is a lab project. It is only done by people attempting to breed vanilla.

[@KR-vq2jf]

Good video. I think the unique nature as well as the affordability and availability of the starts is helping spur interest. My starts two years ago were triple what the price is today.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

I have noticed a lot of variations in price, from zero to $75 per pot. My original vines were free. I stripped them down from trees in a friends forest. It appears when I sell the plants I am the lowest price source on the Island.

[@mariainesmenabarretosulliv5022]

Thanks for a wonderful explanation about vanilla ❤

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

My pleasure 😊

[@mariainesmenabarretosulliv5022]

Thanks Bill

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Sure thing. Aloha

[@audio323]

In Canada, Vanilla orchids being sold in local greenhouse / plant stores for ornamental indoor growing. Big market for exotic tropicals and nice looking pheno types. indoor greenery helps get through the long winter months and many thriving outdoor in the humid hot summers.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Yup, I remember dabbling with tropical plants in frigid climates. It was fun. I sold vanilla orchids in California while running nursery. They we cute at first but vanilla is one of the largest orchids on earth. I once saw a mature specimen fruiting in a San Francisco greenhouse. It took up the entire wall! Best wishes. Aloha

[@GrowWhereYouArePlanted]

Vanilla grows happily as a house plant here in North Carolina. In fact, it grows better for me indoors during the winter than it does outside in spring/summer/ fall. I do have to mist it while indoors to counteract dry heat.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

You have one big house. Vanilla is one of the biggest orchids we grow. In Hawaii the plants are 6 yers old and about 10 feet wide by the time they start to flower. I have seen nice vines at greenhouses in the SF Bay Area. They took up a wall. Aloha

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Best of luck.

[@GrowWhereYouArePlanted]

@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thanks!

[@lagatitabruja]

I’m in San Diego and I got a couple of cuttings years ago at an orchid show. Would you recommend just growing in the shade here? Climate change has been weird so it’s been tropical/humid here past couple of years so I sort of have hope?

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

The future of San Diego climate is most likely desert, not tropical. Climate change will probably just make weather more erratic. You get 2 years of Amazon climate with a Canadian cold snap sandwiched in between. I would not count on climate change as being beneficial to your situation. In Hawaii the vines thrive in part shade with temperatures range between 50 and 85. Our average humidity is around 80% here. The only way you can cool you cuttings in CA is with shade& mist

[@fluteplayervictoria4100]

I don't know if I will succeed growing them indoors, but I might try.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Rod McClellan Orchid Growers in San Fransico California used to have a huge on in their greenhouse. The biggest problem with vanilla is the plant must be very large before flowering. A 12' wide trellise works well.

[@cw9306]

Very interesting video! I am subscribed to your channel though I can’t remember what brought me here LOL, but I actually had no idea vanilla was an orchid species. I’m too far north to ever grow them (Michigan) still intriguing to learn about this plant.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Out side of the tropics vanilla could only be grown in a large hot house. The vines are huge, not a cute little orchid house plant. Greetings from HI. I lived in Wisconsin for years. My neighbors are from Michigan UP. Going to dinner with them this evening.

[@Katrina-b9e]

Hello! I want to grow this vanilla we like to make our own vanilla extract. How can I get a cutting? Do you sell them? Please let me know. Thank you very much for your time .

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Yes, I sell vanilla cuttings locally. I don't ship them.

[@Dog_gone_it]

If you go down to the haunted Mckenzie park and go right for about a 100 yards, then you'll find a bunch of vanilla vines that someone planted years ago. They are overtaking some of the pine trees down there haha 😅

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Good one, I know the park but not the vines or the haunt. The place has a haunt? I am aware of several fishermen that went over the cliffs never to be seen again.

[@Dog_gone_it]

@GreenGardenGuy1 my buddy who lives on Mauna Kea said the mafia use to take people out there to quote unquote "feed'em to the fishes." Also, in the before time pre colonialism that use to be a spot that warriors would take prisonars of war to execute by throwing over the cliff and unnalow them to get back ashore due to the jagged edges. He also mentioned that some of the bad spirits, night drummers, or shapeshifters around the island use to go down there and disrupt visitors of the island who were camping there by dragging their tents or sleeping bags over the edge with people still inside. It's all here say but as oral traditions of the islanders go, everything on the coconut telephone can never be verified but are good spooky stories to tell to visitors around Halloween 🎃 😅

[@Dog_gone_it]

Sorry for my poor grammar 😄

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

@@Dog_gone_it Maybe the Yakuza but not the Mafia. The Sicilians never had a presence on the Big Island. Must have been the Japanese gangs. Making war prisoners jump makes more sense.

[@gregmcallister3893]

Aloha & here is what is happening in Europe folks. Flowers more exotic than the humble tulip will soon flourish for the first time in Dutch greenhouses after intensive research into growing the capricious vanilla orchid to harvest one of the world's most expensive spices. In the middle of potato fields in a central Dutch rural town, scientists from Wageningen University have for the past four years been nurturing vanilla orchids. And their research has been deemed a success.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

The energy used to power the greenhouses would be the only short fall I can see. Since there is so much hand work in vanilla, having huge acreage isn't practical anyway. Hot house production makes sense.

[@gregmcallister3893]

@@GreenGardenGuy1 Aloha & Energy and labor costs matter. The Netherlands is world leader in agricultural innovation and world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products despite its size and weather conditions. This has only been possible using new technology and knowledge that has allowed them to obtain twice as much food using half as many resources. Above a 50% of their surface is used for agriculture and 80% of their cultivated land is under greenhouse glass, with interior light and “climate control” where crops can grow no matter the weather or light condition outside. Gas engines are a perfect fit to support the growth of the crops in greenhouse glass, they can provide the electrical power for the artificial lights, heat for hot water and CO2 to enrich the atmosphere.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

@@gregmcallister3893 And we can blame them for the Tulip bulbs too!

[@gregmcallister3893]

Aloha and robots that pick strawberry and cucumbers too. It might be a bit of a challenge to robot pollinate vanilla orchids every sunrise? >@@GreenGardenGuy1

[@zm4518]

Can this be grown in Sacramento, CA?

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

Where there is a will there is a way. It couldn't be grown by ordinary garden means but I've seen a nice vine in San Francisco grown in a hot house.

[@hannagreenwell9783]

Can i ask how old your mamaki is? Wasnt sure the actual lifespan of them, im on oahu and just got some vanilla gifted to me so ive been watching all your stuff lol thank you!

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

At the 100th anniversary of the national parks, August 25th, 2016 I was playing Konane with the Rangers. I won so they gave me a Mamaki plant. I put it in the ground that day. It is now 8 years old and in decline. I had another in full sun and it burned out in 4 years. This one lasted longer and was in part shade. I have started hanging vanilla on metal trellis so I don't lose the shelter if the tree dies. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXjchqx5lqufmrc

[@thedomestead3546]

Yes! More plant videos

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

I haven't been doing anything interesting in the garden lately. Having to move my vanilla was a disaster. I didn't want to even mention it but decided after Kosher lasers I'd better get back to gardening.

[@thedomestead3546]

@@GreenGardenGuy1 same happened moving the Awa. One is growing back though.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

@@thedomestead3546 That is also where my Kava is growing. It seems fine. We will get to see how much it likes the increased sun.

[@leonardoalfonso7080]

Hey Bill, did you hear that Lahaina's beloved Banyan Tree survived the fire? It's incredible how a tree planted in April 24, 1873 survived such as terrible disaster.

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

I suspect that tree is going to be a debate for years to come. It got burned up bad but arborists claim it might be saved and they would try their best. I suspect it is a bit early in the game.

[@leonardoalfonso7080]

If it survives, it will be a symbol of perseverance for the community.@@GreenGardenGuy1

[@whatthefunction9140]

Our vine is loaded with beans but now we don't know what to do next

[@GreenGardenGuy1]

They need to ripen. It takes about 10 months. Beans usually finish just before the next flowering. After harvest they are sweated in plastic bags, wrapped in felt at night and allowed to cure until dry but flexible.

[@iwuvmybigfamily]

So, I guess that Iowa is out for these plants?