Vanilla.. Um... HELP!
 

The Story... Of a plant known as "Betsy"
Betsy..so ...started as a clipping from a local Orchid greenhouse, here in Florida.

She was sold us as a "Vanilla"...
With the cook in me, screaming buy it, the orchid lover screaming "BUY IT NOW!"....

Needless to say, I succumbed and pulled out the wallet.

I got Betsy home and placed her in a bark pot box with some orchid bark on some orchid bark, up against a trellis in the corner of the house.
I had put the planting in the corner of the house, with a pebble lined humidity tray.
I watered once a week, and fertilized with Schultz's once a month.

Then, I did the unthinkable, handed over the care over "Betsy"....to, Mum, (thought: well, it worked for me I made it to nearly 6 foot)

I jumped on a jet plane to the Middle East.

Mum kept up the routine and informed me that "nothing had happened"
cue "the doom music." :shock:
I was later informed via telephone that a change in the AC humidity unit and a metal, pot stand, and splurge at the Florida, and a humidifier on that "new AC system" a change in AC, and the whole mess on the AC wall mount and a new household AC had occurred and a new trellis had been "taped on" in my absence.

Fast-forward 2 years...and... we reach...
Today, my arrival.
:yikes:
I see the clipping... now a plant has sent fleshy orchid root as I am used to calling them from her third leaf.
Now on this greenish wrinkley mess of a root down in the midst of the "moisture tray" which is dry.... is a root fan that appears like the withered hands of the Styrofoam monster known as spaghetti with a side of cottage cheese vomit spread in a fan on the pea sized pebbles of the moisture tray....

I am sure you can all picture the twitching of your intrepid hero.
This clipping has now gotten dried roots and tendrils ...
The vine which now appears to have blackened leaf tips and buds at each of the three branch offs also appears unhappy. The rotten 2 inch section at the base sitting under the trellis IN the orchid bark appears like a soggy woman's set of nylons.

Mum has looped the plant over the trellis and Betsy's leaf tips are black the root tendrils appear dry and shriveled.

At this point I'm nearly catatonic on the floor in tears....

And yours truly is staring at that one fleshy root...
:nailbite:
Something has to happen...

Cue the sprint to Home Depot purchase
a 14inch pot terra cotta plastic,
one bag of miracle grow "Orchid" mix,
one sprinkle of humidity control miracle grow mix,
two x 4 foot wood fan trellis,
box of nails
and the Best select "dendrobium" Orchid mix I could find.

Now comes the emotional bit!
It's September and ...
I'm repotting
Trying to build a 6 foot fan trellis straight out of Frankenstein from these two 4 foot ones I bought. I have hammered my fingers into hamburgers... Bled out on the patio stones... and can't stop staring at the plant.

Then the soil nightmare...
The play by play in the terra cotta plastic pot goes... Miracle grow Orchid mix CHECK,
hand full of pea pebbles,
hand full of select mix,
the root of the vanilla,
the 8 qt bag of select mix,
the base of the "Vanilla" orchid named "Betsy"
I put my feeble attempt of a my red stained 6 foot overlapped hammered Frankenstein fan trellis in the bark and soil.
Betsy appears a bit sad with the dry tendrils of roots the remains of the vine tangled around the old straight ladder trellis are draped, in an 8 foot shaped snake.

For the Pièce de résistance I put the whole deal on wheels than then...
I place this "mess" over a PVC moisture tray (read two "manly giant handfuls of pea gravel").

I water until I see a lip of clay color in the bottom of the moisture tray. I'm happy as I've watered with the mist setting on my Mum's new bendable nozzle {three foot handle adjustable hose nozzel (that I also impulse buy) from Home Depot}.

I then proceed to drag this mess out to the South west corner of our mesh covered pool patio Outside in the Humidity and PRAY!

Pictures when I can figure out how to get this camera thing hooked up and uploaded.

Hoping everything will be alright. Begging and waiting for the forum Gods to tell me everything will be ok... Sleepless in St. Petersburg.

Now for the glamour shots.
:blushing:
This shot shows the trellis, the potting medium. Please note that the sprinkle of soil on top is just that.. a sprinkle. I hoped it would give me some indication of the watering and humidity around the plant.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...nilla_post.jpg

Here is a money shot of the root snaking it's way down to the new location in the potting medium. I'm hoping what I have done is good and drastic enough to allow her to turn around and be happier than she was before.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...illa_post5.jpg


This is the topmost bud. This picture has me quite worried. I left the plant happy with swollen buds and a stable potting now this...
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...illa_post2.jpg

Here is a picture of that massive silvery root that ended up down in the moisture tray of the previous pot. There is also an image of another bud tip gone dry...:scratchhead:http://www.orchidboard.com/community...illa_post3.jpg

This next picture gives me hope... I think I can see a swelling of what appears to be a bud...:( Time will tell.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...illa_post4.jpg

Thanks for all the help and input.

African violet mix is a great medium for vanillas. They like moisture, so keep the medium moist, not soggy and thoroughly mist the entire plant at least twice a day during summer.

Sorry, I can't offer any help or advice - but love your writing! Great story - I was on the edge of my seat!
Keep us updated please!

It is going to live. It has a future now that you have come back. I cant grow vanilla even if I wanted to: I have frost and indoor growing will just make it sad. It needs to be outdoors with the humid atmosphere a gentle breeze that will caress it lovingly...

Water Water Water. Vanilla does grow real slow in the winter and a times stops altogether. But when the days get longer and the temp gets a little warmer they will grow like a weed. Oh did I say water it often? They grow in the everglade and I see them growing well with the ground underwater.

Thanks for the tip Flhiker...
I was hoping that after living at a controlled 78F for the majority of those two years this sudden run of 90F would do some good to speed the growing along. I was hoping the temperature the mildly brighter spill light would make Betsy think it was summer.:evil:

Thank you Junebug!
The entire plant as it tip to roots? Ok that I'll do. Our humidity is hitting 60% now so I thought the watering would need to get more intense.

As a side note I'm still kicking in the fertilizer once a month.

:blushing:
:bowing
Believe it or not... My orchids matter that much to me.

I'd be shocked if the vanilla didn't thrive now with the right conditions and Florida has the right conditions. I have one here in Ohio that spends the majority of its time indoors but this summer, when it was outside, a neighbor's kitty attacked it (really, kitty, the fruit trees aren't enough?) and it's starting over and doing great.
Leafmite

I may be panicking early but...
 

:bua:I woke up and noticed blackness....
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...8_533x800_.jpg
Notice it hanging off of the right hand side of the picture..
:bua:

On a brighter note...
I could almost pop with pride IT'S BACK!!!!:dance:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6_800x533_.jpg

then there was...
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...7_800x533_.jpg
So I am trying to recover a bit of my frayed nerves...

I have decided to start misting the trellis... not that it will be good for it as the whole thing may just decide to grow algae and rot. I remember an old gardener telling me in a thick British accent... You pull the plant with water and earth like an Indian snake charmer. She'll follow if you are kind.

Rest in Peace and God bless you Granddad!
We all miss you!

I have mine growing up a post wrapped in moss...floral moss. That isn't the greatest because I have to spray it wet every day. Sphrag (or anything else!) would have worked better. I attached it to the post with floral wire. The moss gives it something to sink its roots into so they don't dry out, necessary here in Ohio for inside the house.
Leafmite