The vanillas, growing the spice orchid
For the past few years I have been growing Vanilla planifolia with varied success until recently. I started with one cutting of 8" form a seller online on eBay for $11 in 2011. It took two weeks to root, four months to start growing and three years to get the conditions right. Surprisingly, V. planifolia or at least the clone I had was almost unkillable. Apart from leaf burns in the summer and spring causing set backs the plant did very well.
I added a new vanilla to my collection in early 2016, V. pompona. It grew from a mature 6" two node cutting that rooted quickly but literally did nothing for seven months. Only in October did it start to grow. It has yet to stop.
This year I added a new vanilla planifolia to my collection, a five foot long vine that has as good thickness. I purchased it for $30 at a local orchid show. It is in a small 4" pot wrapping around 3 24" bamboo poles. I want to re-pot it so i can give the roots in the pot some more room to grow. I know the aerial roots are important and the plant is a hemiepiphyte but i think 4" pot is still quite small.
Also, does anyone have any good ideas for natural organic fertilizers for vanilla orchids?
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