What to do with Vanilla? - Orchid Board

AlehCemy · #1 09-12-2020, 03:50 PM

My mom is the orchid lover and collector, I just help taking care of the orchids.

Anyway, she has a Vanilla plant, in a container (inside another with rocks, so it won't fall over), resting against a wall (there is a support inside the container, made with bamboos and that is resting against the wall) and on a counter top. However, recently (two months? I think? Quarantine made me lose track of time) due to strong gusts of wind, the plant fell over and unfortunately, lost many, if not all, of the roots in the container. We thought that maybe, there was enough roots overall and it would just be like "nah, it was nothing". It does have a lot of aerial roots (some of them are around 1m each)

That wasn't the case. The leaves closer to the roots are yellowing out, and it's slowly climbing up. The stem itself is still green. It's just the leaves that are yellowing and then dying. I also have noticed that the good leaves have started to lose their deep green tone and instead are light green with yellow undertone. The tip of the plant was starting to put out a leaf, but that died and haven't been growing up anymore.

We tried using a root simulator to see if it could produce more roots in the container a couple of days after it fell down, but it didn't seem to be helping. We have been spraying the roots and leaves with water, to try to keep the humidity high (we are currently in dry season and this week in particular have been excessively dry, with afternoon humidity usually at 20%). We haven't been watering the pot frequently, just when the medium is dry. I have also added a bit of Bokashi fertlizer as I realized it's been a good while we haven't fertilized it. It's what I use on my tomatoes plants, so I had some of it and thought it wouldn't hurt the Vanilla.

I'll shortly take a couple of pics of the yellowing leaves and plant. It seems that once we started spraying it more frequently (we used to spray just twice a day, but because of recent alerts of super dry air, we decided to change to 4, 5 times a day), it have been slowing down the yellowing process.

Is it a sign that it's time to repot it? Or is it a matter of just being patient and keep spraying it more frequently?

AlehCemy · #2 09-12-2020, 04:00 PM

As I have promised, here are the photos.

I have just now noticed that one leaf in the upper part just died. But the rest seems fine and not starting any process of yellowing/dying.

estación seca · #3 09-12-2020, 04:28 PM

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Vanilla normally grows up into the trees. The bottom of the stem usually dies, and it has no connection to the soil. After that it only roots above, from the stems, onto the trees. It then takes up water from the roots above. Your mom's plant looks very healthy except for not enough watering.

Vanilla grows best in very hot, wet, humid climates. Your low humidity and dry weather are the problems. The small amount of roots in the pot are not enough to supply the whole plant. Regularly spray the whole plant, including the aerial roots. Do it in the evening so the plant can absorb more water before drying.

AlehCemy · #4 09-12-2020, 04:33 PM

Thank you!

We did have the habit of spraying it twice every day (early morning, 7am and early night, 7pm), no matter if it was hot and dry. If it was dry, at around 30-40%, I would spray it again at 11pm (as it's my usual late night snack time). But two month ago (when it wasn't that hot and dry) the bottom leaves started to yellow.

Because it's super dry, we increased the spraying frequency. The usual times are now 7am, 12pm, 5pm, 7 pm. Sometimes an extra spraying at 11pm. It doesn't receive any direct sun during the day, only indirect light.

So, once a while has passed with this new routine, the plant will start growing up again and recover pretty well? As I said, it haven't been growing in those 2 months. Not even leaves.

estación seca · #5 09-12-2020, 05:16 PM

It will begin growing when your humidity goes up later in Spring. It is from southern Mexico into Central America, which has a climate very similar to yours. Maybe a little more rain in winter than you get.

AlehCemy · #6 09-12-2020, 06:33 PM

Unfortunately, there is no good forecast of rain for this spring and summer, due to La Niña. It's forecast to be hot and dry like it's now.... Summer at beginning of year was cold and rainy, winter was hot and rainy, and now it's really getting too hot too early and too dry too early.

Guess it's time to make some long term solution to keep the humidity high for the vanilla.