Vanilla seedling living conditions
 

Hello all

I recently acquired a small vanilla seedling (last week) and its my first time with one so I'm not so sure what to expect. It arrived in a package of densely packed moss which I removed and I transferred the seedling to a mixture of bark and moss in a small net pot. I placed that pot into a regular pot with rocks at the bottom and some water to increase the humidity. I have been misting the aerial roots twice a day. I checked the medium today, and it's dry so I wanted to water it but I took a look at the buried section of the seedling and the roots are still wet. They are yellow in color and mushy in sections. I looked at the aerial roots more closely and they have started to look dry at the tip and nodes. Is there something I can do? I fear that my window sill conditions are not well suited for it. (I do have two phals that seem to be doing well in the same window) I have attached some photos and any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks! :)

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I'm not an expert in vanilla, but if i'm not mistaken it's root has to be on the ground. That's how it grows in the wild. The soil should contain organic compost. It doesn't doing very well on normal orchid mixture.

I think you are misting too much? And bark medium is not appropriate to the orchid especially when it comes to seedlings but I think that's not the problem. Water when you feel that the roots are slightly dry but not too much because this is still a seedling. Maybe every 2-3 days? It depends on what you feel about it :)

i have a pot of vanilla cuttings, they came potted in dirt like a plant, seems to be quite happy that way. you can see a definite difference in the roots that are reaching into the dirt and the ones that are being used to hold the vine up...

I pot mine in peat based soil.
It starts off in the ground in nature before climbing up trees.

I will state this is the only orchid I have that absolutely loves being misted.
I mist mine between 2 to 5 times a day.

:shock: I wish I had that much time with my chids. I'm lucky to see them once a day.

Lol. It's in the kitchen so it gets a little extra love from me and my family.
Everyone else likes misting it too.

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

I seem to have mixed suggestions and therefore, have not done anything yet. I checked on the roots today that I have left on top of the bark mix in an attempt to dry them out and they are still very wet and mushy. I guess the roots aren't taking so well and I would like to do something to make sure it doesn't get any worse.

I'm thinking of burrowing more of the vanilla nodes after changing the medium. I only have sphagnum moss and regular orchid potting mix. Would a mix of this be equivalent to peat soil?

I just want her to be happy. :/