The one thing you’ll need to be diligent about is helping the flowers pollinate. This helps stimulate root development, which leads to a stronger, healthier vine. As it grows longer, you’ll want to loop the stem around the trellis. Once the stem has reached a diameter of around half an inch, it should be good to go. It will take quite a while for your vanilla orchid to mature and begin producing flowers-usually about four years. Their beans are also sensitive to rot from too much moisture, so it’s in your best interest to just leave them be. Plus, they’ll need a two-month dry spell to start flowering, so you don’t want to stunt flower production by giving them too much water. Since they’re semi-epiphytic, they have aerial roots that will soak up moisture from our humid air all on their own. Pruning? Barely! Water? Eh, not really, unless we’re going through a serious drought.

Truthfully, the amount of effort you need to put into vanilla orchid care is pretty minimal. Bark mulch or very light, loamy soil is ideal. Ideally, a growing medium that’s loose and airy will work best. Vanilla orchids are semi-epiphytic, meaning they can be grown in soil, or as air plants. Try not to cramp them too close to other plants, because vanilla orchids prefer good air circulation. Find a spot outside that gets some partial shade and indirect sunlight, possibly underneath an awning or a tree canopy. Vanilla orchids are vining plants, so you’ll want to plant them at the base of a trellis or similar structure that they can climb up. planifolia baby plant, or a large cutting. Ideally, you’ll want to get your hands on a small potted V. If you want to start growing vanilla orchids at home, you won’t be able to start them from seeds. We’re really lucky to have such a warm, humid climate-perfect for growing this much-loved delicacy! In most regions, you’d need a perfectly temperature-controlled greenhouse to grow these tropical orchids, but in Southern Florida, conditions are just right. The First Steps To Growing Vanilla Orchids

Vanilla orchid plant