Climbing options for living room vanilla planifolia?

[lobotomizedgoat]

I recently picked up a vanilla planifolia cutting and I'm deliberating on options for it to climb on.

The vine is a thick cutting from a mature plant, currently ~2-2.5 feet in length and in a 6 inch plastic pot with a chunky soil mix. It will be growing in my living room where the temperature rarely leaves 68-78°F and the humidity is 50-70%. There's a ceiling fan across the room that maintains gentle air circulation.

The simplest option I've seen is a tomato cage, but I wonder if my humidity is high enough for that to allow for healthy aerial roots without multiple daily mistings. I don't mind the extra work but I worry about my ability to do it consistently. A moss pole would maintain moisture but I worry about long term viability. I'm guessing a simple wooden structure might be a good medium, maintaining some moisture while not degrading too quickly.

What are your thoughts? Is there an option I overlooked or a particular type of wood that you would recommend or discourage?

[Paphluvr]

We used to be able to buy tree fern poles, but I haven't seen them for sale in some time. I would think a tube made out of hardware cloth would work (not the prettiest) or some assemblage of cork (esp. if you could find small tubular pieces, but expensive).

[tmoney]

well, im not sure what your house situation is and if you can screw things into the wall, but for ours we just have been using screw hooks. when it grows another couple feet, screw in another hook. the younger leads we just wrap around the ones already hooked in. been working a treat for us and our vine is now several meters long....good luck!

watering is not as hard as i thought. we water it the same as our other orchids....fill the cache pot and let sit for 15 mins or so, then gently lift the plastic pot with plant out and dump into the mop bucket. yes, some water gets on the windowsill but it’s stone and i figure it just adds a little local humidity as it evaporates!

edit to include pic for reference

2nd edit to say it’s mostly right next to a south facing window, so half the leaves or so (maybe less) get direct sun most of the day, the rest are in shade right next to it. our humid and temp ranges are similar to yours, not drastically different anyway

[DirtyCoconuts]

if you have the wire for the tomato cage roll it in a tighter "tube" and fill it with leca or shredded mulch.

it will hold a bit more moisture and give the roots a place to grab.

anchor the tube into the base of the pot and let it climb

[lobotomizedgoat]

Originally Posted by Paphluvr

We used to be able to buy tree fern poles, but I haven't seen them for sale in some time. I would think a tube made out of hardware cloth would work (not the prettiest) or some assemblage of cork (esp. if you could find small tubular pieces, but expensive).

I do have a small collection of wine & beer corks saved for crafting purposes, though I doubt it's quite as many as I would need!

Originally Posted by tmoney

well, im not sure what your house situation is and if you can screw things into the wall, but for ours we just have been using screw hooks. when it grows another couple feet, screw in another hook. the younger leads we just wrap around the ones already hooked in. been working a treat for us and our vine is now several meters long....good luck!

watering is not as hard as i thought. we water it the same as our other orchids....fill the cache pot and let sit for 15 mins or so, then gently lift the plastic pot with plant out and dump into the mop bucket. yes, some water gets on the windowsill but it’s stone and i figure it just adds a little local humidity as it evaporates!

edit to include pic for reference

2nd edit to say it’s mostly right next to a south facing window, so half the leaves or so (maybe less) get direct sun most of the day, the rest are in shade right next to it. our humid and temp ranges are similar to yours, not drastically different anyway

That's all good to hear! It is my dream to one day have the plant encircling the room... though I should probably check what my other half thinks of that first. Out of curiosity, how often do you water yours?

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

if you have the wire for the tomato cage roll it in a tighter "tube" and fill it with leca or shredded mulch.

it will hold a bit more moisture and give the roots a place to grab.

anchor the tube into the base of the pot and let it climb

I had not though of a leca pole. I've never used leca before but was already considering experimenting with some for other plants.


Thanks for the input, everyone!

[Ray]

Unless it is full of a material that holds water really well, any "pole" will dry out quickly, requiring frequent watering.

For a D-I-Y project, sphagnum would be my first thought, although something inorganic like rock wool will last longer.

[tmoney]

s of that first. Out of curiosity, how often do you water yours?

hey, we water once a week (fill pot with water and sit for ~15 minutes) and mist the pot/substrate and a shot up the vines a couple times a week. it’s planted in a mix of bark, leca, and tiny bit of moss.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i dont use the pole for the vanilla- that grows out of a tub terrarium and freely up my patio screen


i use the poles for indoor plants like monstera and philodendron that like to climb- i fill it with mostly lava rock and some mulch and wrap the out side in hygrolon - i pour water on it weekly but it is mostly dry as Ray pointed out. i like that it gives REALLY good anchoring for the climbing roots and i can water the pole easily with a quick mist and not worry about sogging down the soil.

keep in mind that i am in a humid area and i get a lot of forgiveness by the plants from that