Vanilla planifolia seedling: Black Aerial Root tips

[Dave_in_Nightvale]

Hello I'm a new member as well as a very amateur orchid grower. I recently purchased a vanilla planifolia seedling from eBay and it has grown new leaves but I noticed that every time the aerial roots try to grow, the roots turn black and stop growing. I recently repotted it because it seemed that the soil it grew on might have invited small insects, but the root system looked okay. Is it because I overwater it? (I mist it once in the morning and another in the afternoon). It seems like new aerial roots are trying to grow next to the dead spots. Can someone please help? I really don't want it to die.

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

We have several Board participants who have some experience with vanilla, so hopefully, someone will jump in. They do produce roots at the "nodes" where leaves also come out. I'm guessing that if some are lost, it will try again. A tree fern (hapu'u) pole can encourage rooting along the vine, or you can also train it up a piece of cork with sphagnum on it (so that it has something damp and firm to attach roots to) But look for contributions from other people, who have more experience with the genus than I do.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Vanilla needs relative high humidity, or the roots do exactly what you are seeing.

You can try putting it onto a mossed pole, as Roberta mentioned. I haven't seen these sold for a while - they are wooden stakes of varying lengths, with chicken wire wrapped around them, and sphagnum moss stuffed between the wire and stake. They were used for climbing Philodendrons at one time, and would also work well for Vanilla.

The other thing to do would be to have a growing area routinely over 60% relative humidity. Then the roots won't blacken and die.

Many people want to grow Vanilla, but you must realize it is an enormous vine. It is not happy as a house plant unless your humidity and light are much higher than in most houses. It tends to flower at the very tops of the vine where it breaks out from the tree canopy into the sunshine. I have seen people set lengths of Vanilla on the greenhouse bench, and tie it to the edge of the bench, letting it grow horizontally as far as it wants to go. I have also seen them tie it to a support pole, and let it grow up.

[Dave_in_Nightvale]

Originally Posted by Roberta

First, Welcome!

We have several Board participants who have some experience with vanilla, so hopefully, someone will jump in. They do produce roots at the "nodes" where leaves also come out. I'm guessing that if some are lost, it will try again. A tree fern (hapu'u) pole can encourage rooting along the vine, or you can also train it up a piece of cork with sphagnum on it (so that it has something damp and firm to attach roots to) But look for contributions from other people, who have more experience with the genus than I do.

Thank you for your warm welcome Roberta! And thank you for your advice

---------- Post added at 11:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Vanilla needs relative high humidity, or the roots do exactly what you are seeing.

You can try putting it onto a mossed pole, as Roberta mentioned. I haven't seen these sold for a while - they are wooden stakes of varying lengths, with chicken wire wrapped around them, and sphagnum moss stuffed between the wire and stake. They were used for climbing Philodendrons at one time, and would also work well for Vanilla.

The other thing to do would be to have a growing area routinely over 60% relative humidity. Then the roots won't blacken and die.

Many people want to grow Vanilla, but you must realize it is an enormous vine. It is not happy as a house plant unless your humidity and light are much higher than in most houses. It tends to flower at the very tops of the vine where it breaks out from the tree canopy into the sunshine. I have seen people set lengths of Vanilla on the greenhouse bench, and tie it to the edge of the bench, letting it grow horizontally as far as it wants to go. I have also seen them tie it to a support pole, and let it grow up.

Thank you for your welcome!

Yes I'll purchase a pole as soon as I can, but in the meantime, is my watering habits okay? Or should I water it more? I have heard that most problems when it comes to vanilla is overwatering it so I am trying to find the right balance. Thanks in advance!

[Roberta]

If the roots in the pot are good, the watering is probably OK. Goal is damp, not soggy. The misting of the aerial roots is giving it the "humidity" part... which it really needs, so the dying root tips I suspect are responding to not enough water rather than too much. The other possibility is temperature... Vanilla likes to be warm. So if it is getting chilly overnight, can you find a warmer spot for it?

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[estación seca]

It will probably wither away unless you can give it high humidity. No watering can fix that. Some plants just aren't good house plants. I tried it before in my house; it didn't even grow. In my humid sunroom it grew by leaps and bounds.

[Dave_in_Nightvale]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If the roots in the pot are good, the watering is probably OK. Goal is damp, not soggy. The misting of the aerial roots is giving it the "humidity" part... which it really needs, so the dying root tips I suspect are responding to not enough water rather than too much. The other possibility is temperature... Vanilla likes to be warm. So if it is getting chilly overnight, can you find a warmer spot for it?

For the humidity problem, I unfortunately do not have a greenhouse so I'm trying to find alternatives. I mist it twice a day, my current environment has a humidity averaging at 80%, I will buy the right pole and I also heard that I should place my vanilla in the bathroom. Do you think this advice is good to take?

As for the temp, the highs in my environment is around the early 80's°F and the night temp is the early 60's°F and I have my vanilla currently placed on my window sill right next to the opening. Do you think the temp is also affecting the roots?

---------- Post added at 12:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

It will probably wither away unless you can give it high humidity. No watering can fix that. Some plants just aren't good house plants. I tried it before in my house; it didn't even grow. In my humid sunroom it grew by leaps and bounds.

For the humidity problem, I'm thinking of either placing my vanilla on my bathroom because I unfortunately do not have a greenhouse. Or, I should somehow make a makeshift mini greenhouse surrounding the plant. I'm sure I can find a YouTube vid on how to make a small green house environment what do you think of this advice?

[Roberta]

It sounds to me like you have adequate humidity if it is really that high. Night temperature is an issue... especially if it is close to a window, it may be getting too cold. Day temperature is fine, would have no problem if it were even higher as summer progresses.

[Dave_in_Nightvale]

Originally Posted by Roberta

It sounds to me like you have adequate humidity if it is really that high. Night temperature is an issue... especially if it is close to a window, it may be getting too cold. Day temperature is fine, would have no problem if it were even higher as summer progresses.

Yeah even I get a bit chilly in the night so my seedling is definitely not liking it. So I just watched a DIY greenhouse YouTube vid using those huge plastic see through bins and they advised that we make as many holes on the bin as we can (top, bottom, sides). Do you think this is okay? The greenhouse effect and condensation won't escape the bin if I do that?

Sorry for the tangent question I've never had a greenhouse so I'm not sure how what the effects are.

[estación seca]

If it's 80% humidity that's fine. Vanilla is adaptable to temperatures. The roots might have been damaged in transit.