Last edited on February 03, 2024. View history
Vanilla
Vanilla
How to sow vanilla: 50cm stem cuttings or direct seed indoors
Sun requirement for vanilla: Plant in Partial Sun
Vanilla is a perennial vine species of Vanilla Orchid that is grown for the vanilla flavor that can be extracted from its seed pods. Vanilla is native to Mexico and Central America and needs a hot, wet, humid, tropical climate. Plants need dappled sunlight and a trellis or support system. Vines produce greenish-yellow flowers that last only a day and must be hand-pollinated. Only mature vines longer than 3m will produce seed pods. Pods are 15-24cm long and look like small bananas. They take 5 months to mature and turn brown. Once mature, pods are harvested and cured for 3 months. Vanilla needs temperatures between 21-32° C, with an ideal range of 25-27° C. It cannot survive frost or nighttime temperatures below 12.7° C. Vanilla can be grown in containers or greenhouses to attempt to mimic these conditions, but may not produce fruit. Vanilla is most successfully started from stem cuttings, since seeds are very small and slow to germinate. Sap from the stems can cause moderate to severe skin irritation.
- 0
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Vanilla facts
Lifespan
Height
300cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For vanilla, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 2790 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your vanilla will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Photos
Photos
Vanilla crops
What people are saying about vanilla
Nobody has posted about vanilla yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing vanilla.
Who's planted vanilla
Nobody has planted this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your vanilla plantings.Vanilla harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your vanilla harvests.Find vanilla seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 180 to 300 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Liliidae Orchidales Orchidaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb, vine |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours) |
Learn more about vanilla
Resources outside Growstuff.
