Your adult vanilla provides plenty of green starting material for vegetative propagation. Instead of purchasing young plants from specialist retailers for expensive money, you can simply grow additional specimens using cuttings - and all for free. This guide explains how to do it correctly.
How do I grow vanilla cuttings myself?
To grow vanilla cuttings, cut he althy, non-flowering vines into sections with at least 3 pairs of leaves in early summer. Remove the lower pair of leaves and plant the cutting in lean potting soil or peat-sand mix. Support the cutting and ensure a tropical microclimate.
The best time is in early summer - this is how you cut cuttings correctly
When a vanilla is full of juice, the floral life pulsates right down to the shoot tips. At this time you will receive the most vital cuttings of the season. Choose a he althy, non-flowering vine. Cut these into pieces with at least 3 pairs of leaves. The lower pair of leaves is removed to increase the sprouting area for the new roots.
Please mark the polarity on each cutting. If a cutting is accidentally inserted into the substrate in the opposite direction of growth, it will not root. Furthermore, carry out all cutting work with protective gloves. The sap of a vanilla orchid is slightly poisonous and can cause unpleasant itching.
Step-by-step instructions
In addition to the prepared cuttings, please provide small pots for rooting. As a substrate, we recommend lean potting soil or a mix of peat and sand. The steps continue:
- Fill the recommended substrate into the pot and moisten with lime-free water
- Pre-drill the planting hole for each cutting with a prick or wooden stick
- Plant half of one offshoot in each pot, making sure no leaves get underground
- Put a support rod into the substrate and loosely tie the cutting to it
Finally, place a transparent plastic bag over the container to create a tropical, humid microclimate. In a bright to partially shaded window seat, keep the substrate constantly slightly moist at 25 degrees Celsius and ventilate the hood daily.
Tip
The quality of real vanilla from Mother Nature's kingdom is still unrivaled. All attempts at synthetic production have so far been unsuccessful. The only result is the well-known vanilla sugar from the store shelf, which can't even begin to compete with bourbon vanilla. While artificial vanillin only contains a single organic component, natural vanilla is made up of more than 250 organic components.