rooting a vanilla vine?

[renstudio]

HI! I'm a newbie here! I have to save my husbands first vanilla orchid plant It has been horribly overwatered and now has dampended off at the base. the rest of the 6" vine looks good, but I was hoping you guys would know how to root it. I have rooted all kinds of stuff for 10+ years (in fact most of my garden is rooted shoots of somthing ) so if you would help me out please so I can save the poor thing. THANKS! REN

[dave b]

Normally, they are started in a pot with some fine bark mix, or terrestrial mix. Should be free draining, kept moist. Need to insert a stick to tie the stem to, especially once it gets growing. After the plants get growing, it will send out aerial roots and become more or completely epiphetic. There are small nodes along the stem, typically where each leaf is. These are where the roots will form.

My cutting sat dormant for a while after i first potted it up. It was from a huge plant that one of our society members cut up into 2 foot sections to give away. He brought in a trash bag full. It finally sent out a new growth from near the base. That was sometime this summer or spring. Its about 5 foot tall now. Ill try and post a pic later.

[camille1585]

I found some info on vanilla cuttings here: vanilla cuttings
Scrool to the bottom of the page, and everything is explained step by step. It isn't any different from cuttings of other plants, so you should have no problems at all!

I hope you can save this plant!!!

[Dorothy]

WELCOME REN!
Glad you can join us at the OB
There are a number of vanilla threads in the archives .. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...earchid=116393
Rummage through the post titles and pages of posts and you'll find some great info!
(There has been a vanilla post about beans that has been added recently - very interesting stuff with great links )
I hope this helps

[cb977]

Hi Ren

When I got my vanilla cutting, all I did was stick it in a large pot with African Violet Mix and a tree-fern totem.
It is happy happy and now over 6 ft tall sending out new growths all around!

[gixrj18]

My Vanilla planifolia is wrapped around a bamboo steak, just sitting on top of some dirt. At first, I too tried to plant it in the dirt. I ended up with the same result as you. At that point, I cut off all the mush (with sterilized shears), and just left it sitting atop the dirt. After a month, or so, I noticed a new vine shooting up from the top, and a small one from the bottom, also. Your peice of vine probably won't root, it will send out new vines that root for it. Just sitting on top of the moist soil seems to create enough humidity to make it grow. At this point, if it wants to send roots into the soil, it will do so.....but they will be better adapted to it.

[maitaman]

There are several varieties of vanilla here. I just stick them in the ground at the base of a tree and they go from there. Many of them grow naturally with "wet feet" - but damping off is sometimes a problem. Just be sure they dry between waterings and, in the states etc., you can use any good fungicide (in very small amounts) when you start to stop fungal and bacterial infection.
Vanilla should have something it can climb for awhile, then go higher and drop over. It usually won't bloom until it does drop over. There's a lot of two varieties in Isla San Cristobal that go up a tree trunk 80 feet or more - and never bloom until something dislodges the top and it falls over.

[renstudio]

THANKS TO EVERYONE who replied ...since i live in ohio and it is very cold these days i put a glass globe over mr. nilly and left him without water for 3 WEEKS! because he was SO overwatered. NOW he has two very nice looking roots coming out. no new growth of course but roots are a GREAT start! thanks again...i will keep you posted!

[Dorothy]

Mr Nilly
That's cute