More pix first. Then explanation.

So this is going on the fifth year I'll be farming Vanilla. My operation is microscopic but it's a work in progress. I've got maybe 300 vines all in. I got some Vanilla off this planting 2 years ago, and this was the first vines I planted. Which is some what typical for Vanilla. Usually 3-5 years before they really become productive.

I fertilized these back in May/ April. It's a tiny yield but next year I expect to have maybe 5-20x this amount, which means if I can sell some of it, I'll finally be able to cover some of my costs.

Right now I have about five varieties. All from either trade or from hiking to old plantations and looking for feral populations. This one is a variety of Tahitiensis and I made a vanilla bean whip cream a few months ago with it. It's a very distinctly 'bourbon' flavor. Like i ground it up in a mortar and pessle and it straight up smelled like whiskey.

So not close to enough to sell (again) this year. But next year and the following years, maybe this hobby will finally start paying itself off.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

Interesting info for those like myself who never knew much about vanilla before today's post!

https://www.britannica.com/plant/vanilla

[–] [email protected] 6 points 17 hours ago

Aight, I get why it's called a bean now.

[–] NegativeLookBehind 49 points 1 day ago (2 children)

TIL what vanilla looks like when it's growing.

[–] Raiderkev 2 points 15 hours ago

Yup, it grows on an orchid.

[–] TropicalDingdong 41 points 1 day ago

Yeah its an interesting plant. It can survive high heat and no rain for quite a while, but it only really thrives if its got 60% + humidity. You don't grow from seed, but from cutting. And even among orchids its a weirdo, because its both a) terrestrial and b) a vine. So an all around freak.

[–] RBWells 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

This is gorgeous. Would it be too wet for it in west central FL? Will it grow from seeds?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I doubt it will be too wet, but it will likely get too cold to reliably grow most vanilla species outdoors all year long. I think most conservative estimates say it'll grow in zone 11 and up, so if your specific doesn't match that criteria, you'll probably need to grow it in a pot and grow it some place warm in the winter.

It can be grown from seed, but it's a complicated process that will require some research and technical skills for a good chance at success. Then it will be about a decade or more before the seedlings are large enough to start blooming. Most people do not grow from seeds for this reason. It's much easier to grow from cuttings.

[–] RBWells 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Thanks, that helps. We are 10a, last few years have been quite mild winters but this year it already has been cold twice (40f) overnight and it's not even January.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago

You might be able to throw a blanket on it or keep younger plants inside :)

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I've never seen fresh vanilla! I have to ask... Can you eat them like green beans?

[–] TropicalDingdong 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No not really at all. The curing process is pretty extensive and the plants, when cut, smell more like bandaids than vanilla. The split pod in the above image smells intoxicating, so when they become ripe, they do smell like vanilla. However, to get nicely cured beans, requires about 3 months of processing. I'll save up beans until I have enough to do a batch, but I wont have vanilla I can work with till prob spring.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago

Interesting. They look so tender in the picture. Like you could stir fry them!

[–] Noodle07 3 points 20 hours ago

Pods of pure gold right there, vanilla is the flavour I love the most, I would go crazy making it into ice cream or crème brûlée

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Do you hand pollinate? How difficult is it to not miss the flowers opening?

[–] TropicalDingdong 6 points 1 day ago

You have to. There is no other option. Shoutout Edmond Albius.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm curious what fertilizer is used?

[–] TropicalDingdong 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Mostly just chicken manure. I also use a citrus/ avocado mix a couple times a year. They can handle less fertility than most garden plants can. Some growers run their beds very hot. Some don't fertilize hardly at all or use extremely basically a mostly carbon compost

So I usually do about 1 tofu container of pelleted chicken 4 4x a yea, with about half a tofu container of a citrus/ avocado mix 2x per year, per vine. I had a friend try mj bloom fertilizer around flowering and he got very good results. I want to try that to see if I can get more flowers.

In the jungle they grow in pure leaf mulch, which is basically all carbon. And they don't seem to mind at all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I was hoping it was organic! Good job, and thank you for a detailed reply.

[–] ivanafterall 7 points 1 day ago

Those are my kind of green beans.