Vanilla Planifolia

[Orchidilerium]

hey everyone,

As i mentioned in a recent post, I have just planted a large "ice cream orchid" out in my greenhouse. I have it growing against a shadecloth wall on the south side of the structure. So far i have been unsucesfull in finding info about this particular plant, I would like to know a little more about it. is vanilla in a group unto itself? What type of fert is best and how often? It receives a lot of diffused light during the day, and my hygrometer reads 79 degrees avg day temp, and about 50 - 70% humidity, is this suitable for a planifolia?
thanks for any insights,

[LJA]

Hi Drew, vanilla is in subtribe Vanillinae, tribe Vanilleae. Any time you have taxonomy questions, Sue put up a great page on his website you can use for reference: http://webpages.charter.net/dylansuz...chidaceae.html

As far as the best way to grow them, I've got mine against the southern GH wall where it gets lots of bright light as for standard Catts. I fertilize it with every watering (just use whatever you're using for your other orchids). Your humidity and temps sound perfect. Like dosal said in the other thread though, flowers only last a day, 2 on the outside, so don't miss it when it blooms! Mine only blooms once a year, and it already did, last month.

[LJA]

One last thing I forgot--these guys are vines; in Mexico where much of our vanilla is produced, they plant them in the ground at the bases of trees and train them to grow upward into the branches. Make sure you've got some kind of trellis or other support set up that your plant can climb. They need lots of free air movement and space.

[gwills]

You may also want to visit Sharon Dahl's page for more tips on vanilla.
http://www.sdahldtp.com/index.htm#top
Gary