Splitting vanilla orchid vines

[Mary55]

Hi Everyone - it has been a long time since I visited this site, but am so glad to be back. Lost my job in May, but can now devote my time to orchids and gardening. In my sunroom, I had a vanilla orchid vine about 10 years old and 16 feet long. The bottom part of it started drying off making the rest of it sort of droopy. It was inter-tangled in the cross beams of the sunroom. When I finally took it down, it broke into 3 very long pieces. Some of the roots hanging down are over 4 feet long. What is the best way to restart these vines. When I bought the original, it was well established. Thank you for any help. Mary

[EdM-in-TN]

Hi Mary, sorry nobody responded to your question.

Vanilla planifolia, the source for vanilla flavoring, is an easy to grow vining orchid plant. They will grow readily from sections of vine. I typically cut mine into one foot sections to grow into new vines for my customers. The vine will need to be eight feet long or so before it will bloom. They do well on a trellis in tropical conditions. However, in order for them to bloom, the top part of the vine must fall over, un-aided, so that it pinches the stem quite a bit. This stimulates the vine to bloom. You will usually prevent blooming by trying to support it.

[jean2]

Take a cutting with at least one leaf and one node from an existing vanilla orchid plant or purchase one from a plant dealer. It's best to make your cutting underwater and to cut at a 45-degree angle. Place your cutting in a shady area and allow it to remain for one week. Prepare a potting medium containing one-third humus and two-thirds scoria, which is a type of volcanic cinder with multiple holes. Place your mixture into a pot with a drainage hole and water it until the medium is thoroughly moistened.

Insert your cutting into the moist growing medium, barely burying the lowest node. Gently drive a stake into the medium close to your cutting and tie it with nursery tape or a piece of fabric. Place your potted cutting on a plant saucer and keep it in an area that receives light shade. Keep the growing medium moist at all times. Also protect it from frost or cold temperatures; an indoor location such as a bathroom is often a good place to start a vanilla orchid cutting.