Correct Potting mix for vanilla?

[randy98745]

I got a vanilla plant with 2 leaves in a peat type mix. I planted it in regular potting mix. Its growing well and has climbed about 2 more feet up a tree fern pole. What is the best medium for this plant?

[slippery_biscuit]

I bought a vanilla with two leaves, also. It was a cutting that had been in spag moss. Now it has quite a few roots and being leary of overwatering and rotting roots, I read where they like a medium that drains well. Just yesterday I put it in Schultz's orchid mix, but I don't know it I did a good thing or bad...?

If yours has grown two feet, I'm inclined to think you did the good. When you say regular, what type of mix did you use? Regular could mean bark (fine, med, or course), moss, terrestrial (spl?) mix, a few others.

Jeff

[kmarch]

If it is growing and climbing (which is what they do in abundance) I'd be inclined to think it likes whatever kind of mix you have it in. Once the plant is large enough the potting mix is essentially irrelevant as it will climb all over and put out roots all over. One orchid nusery I frequented had one with about a dozen tendrils all somewhere around 20-30 feet in length, climbing all over the rafters of the greenhouse, but it was only in something like an 8-10-inch pot.

[jerrymeola]

Vanilla have a tendency to leave the pot and allow the bottom of the stem and roots to rot off. They will continue to grow as an aerial vine