Brown dots on Vanilla planifolia - Orchid Board

Ferrick · #1 01-05-2010, 01:26 PM

Hi. I'm new to orchids as a hobby. As a culinary artiste, I have had Vanilla planifolia on a subconscious wish list for a long time.

I have a tendency to overfuss with plants, and I inadvertently gave this vanilla some brown spots! I think this was caused by too much misting.

Anyone else have a guess? I know it's not the end of the world if I lose a leaf or so, I just don't want to establish bad orchid practice.

Thanks!

Ray · #2 01-05-2010, 02:41 PM

At this point, there is little you can do. Keep it dry in general, and possibly spray the affected leaf with a cinnamon infusion to prevent further infection.

Concerning misting, the idea is to humidify the air, not to wet the plant.

Go to First Rays' Free Info, and you can read about the home remedies, environmental management, and a whole lot more helpful information.

Ferrick · #3 01-05-2010, 06:56 PM

Thank you.

No more misting. Misting + cold weather = not happy vanilla.

orkie · #4 01-05-2010, 09:03 PM

I have rotted 2 V. planifolia in the past. The first one I simply had no idea what I was doing and had it planted in something more appropriate for a Catt. It wasn't able to root well in that and just didn't ever establish.

The second one seemed ok...but I saw similar brown spots on the stem. At first they still felt firm, but after a few days turned to mush. I guess I wasn't letting the medium ever dry out (it was a mix of moss and soiless mix). I ended up taking 2 cuttings from that plant further along the stem and rooted those by just laying them on top of damp moss. Once they had roots going I took a 6 inch pot, made a mix of gravel, moss and soiless mix, the bottom quarter of the pot (glazed ceramic) nothing but gravel. I made a moss pole about 2 feet high with chicken wire and put that in the center for the plant to climb up, made steady by the gravel (I clip the vine to the wire until its roots are established as I train it up the pole). To water I mist the pole once every 1-2 days (avoiding the leaves and concentrating on the root area) and water the base, where the plant originally rooted every 5 days or so, really soaking it. It seems to be doing very well, making leaves and going up the pole. I read somewhere that letting Vanilla never get a chance to dry out causes major rot and I've done much better since I stopped keeping it so wet.

So I would keep an eye on the brown spots, see if they spread/get smushy, and be prepared to take cuttings if you have to!

stefpix · #5 01-05-2010, 11:30 PM

Orkie
how did you make the moss pole? would like to make one. do you have any photos / advice?
how fast does you vanilla grow? can you express in inches and how long does it take to grow a new leaf?
did it branch out or is it a single stem?
thanks

orkie · #6 01-06-2010, 10:52 AM

To make the pole, I took chicken wire mesh and made a tube that I held together with zip ties. It's about 2 feet tall and maybe 1.5 inches in width. You could make it any width you would like, if you wanted to make it taller, you might need to make it wider to make it stable. I bought the wire at Home Depot. I then put it into the pot I wanted to use and added large gravel to the bottom around the pole to make it stable and added gravel into the pole as well all the way up to where it was even with the pot rim.

I filled the rest of the pot with a mix of gravel, soilless mix, and moss up to the rim. I used a wooden dowel to push moss into the pole and packed it in fairly tight all the way to the top. This isn't mine, but it looks a lot like this pic

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/pre...869/851701.JPG .

I laid my Vanilla on top of the pot and once it started growing led it up the pole.

From July until about October, it grew pretty fast putting on maybe 6 leaves on each cutting. Now that there is less light and it's cooler, it is still growing but very slowly. It's probably grown about 7 inches since July and each one is maybe 9-10 inches in total length. I will try to take a pic of mine tonight. Both of mine are single stems.

stefpix · #7 01-06-2010, 11:13 AM

Thanks
I have a small cutting that grew bery slowly - no new roots for months.

maybe the soil was too terrestrial.
grew a few new leaves.

I just changed the medium to coco choir and chips - and got a humidifier

being so small i cant make a large moss pole.
wonder if I would be able ti make a 1/2" diameter moss pole.

do you water / mist the moss pole?

Ferrick · #8 01-06-2010, 05:24 PM

Does anyone have experience with this overwatering/rot and then new growth? Only a few leaves are in bad shape, and I think maybe new leaves will sprout. Not sure. The fleshy vine and other leaves are still in the condition they arrived in.

orkie · #9 01-06-2010, 09:50 PM

As long as the rot doesn't progress, I wouldn't worry about it or would just remove the leaves that have the spots, you just don't want it to get into the stem. I found that when it occurred on the stem though, it would start to get mushy after a few days . The plant will grow new leaves from the growing tip, but I don't know if old leaves would be replaced if they were removed/rotted off. I would monitor the situation and if the rot appears to progress at all, I would remove the leaves.

Regarding the moss pole, you can make it any size you want. I made mine bigger than the plant could handle at the time because as it grew I didn't want to have to try moving it after it got larger. I think it will be happy for at least 2 years on this set up, as I plant to send it up and down the pole as it grows.

I do mist the pole where the roots are in it every day or 2. About once a week I put the whole thing in the shower to really water it, so everything gets soaked.

Ferrick · #10 01-07-2010, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orkie

As long as the rot doesn't progress, I wouldn't worry about it or would just remove the leaves that have the spots, you just don't want it to get into the stem. I found that when it occurred on the stem though, it would start to get mushy after a few days . The plant will grow new leaves from the growing tip, but I don't know if old leaves would be replaced if they were removed/rotted off. I would monitor the situation and if the rot appears to progress at all, I would remove the leaves.

Regarding the moss pole, you can make it any size you want. I made mine bigger than the plant could handle at the time because as it grew I didn't want to have to try moving it after it got larger. I think it will be happy for at least 2 years on this set up, as I plant to send it up and down the pole as it grows.

I do mist the pole where the roots are in it every day or 2. About once a week I put the whole thing in the shower to really water it, so everything gets soaked.

Thanks. I knew this hobby was tricky, but good Lord! I thought I knew what I was doing with plants.