Will vanilla grow in a tropical climate that has a wet and dry seasons?
Nathan from Nicaragua
Nathan,
I would imagine that you could grow the Vanilla Bean Orchid where you are. I had it when I lived on the gulf coast of Florida and it grew wonderfully. Just never got it to bloom, I was told that it was not "tropical" enough and the conditions there were not "just right" for it to bloom. It was a wonderful plant to grow however. I wish you much success as it really is a beautiful plant.
I am moving to Egypt ( on the Red Sea Coast south of Cairo ) and am wondering if Vanilla will grow there? I can use either an outside area or a greenhouse ? Are there any associations or books available that can guide me in this venture? I also will be growing other Orchids as well as flowers of different varitations
Israel is attmepting this crop also, any news on there ventures??
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Will vanilla beans grow in Haiti?
By Lil
Can you grow orchids? Then you can probably grow vanilla bean as long as you understand the needed horticultural practices and environment that will give you success.
With the Haitian climate it should be possible to grow vanilla beans but be advised this is a plant that takes up to ten years to produce a harvest, and through those ten years the grower is working very, very hard.
The vanilla bean is one of the most labour intensive plants to bring to harvest. It requires regular hand-pollination and other labour-intensive horticultural care, and again, it can take as long as ten years to see a harvest.
The whole process is expensive, from buying the starter plants (even though the grower has to hand pollinate, he/she will need at least three plants to even hope for a small harvest for home use) to bringing it along to harvest, so you will need to be sure this is something you have the money, land, and time for. One of the biggest investments besides having the land out-of-production for so long would be the need to make the soil right for cultivation and that soil amendment/correction is not a one time high cost activity. Keeping the soil right is a 24/7/365 on-going process. Miss one day keeping the soil right and you could lose your crop, and again, this goes for the three you might be growing for home use.
If you have the land available to dedicate to multiple plantings that you can also afford to have non-productive for a very long period of time, vanilla bean growing can be extremely lucrative. The plant, native to other sub-tropical climates like Haiti's, is incredibly expensive to grow, so it is therefore priced to sell at a very high price-thus making it a very lucrative crop!
The following link takes you to an article that makes it seem fairly easy (HA!) but does have some interesting info:
lifestyle.iloveindia.com/
Can vanilla be grown in Egypt? I am starting a small horticultural business on the Red Sea Coast. Does anyone have information that would direct me to find out if this is possible? Do you know of any websites that have information on this subject for Egypt? I tried to find information from the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry but no luck. Would a green house with irrigation be OK for vanilla production?
I googled a few ways and there are lots of sites to learn info including where to purchase the seeds or plants :-) Just keep changing the questions in the subject line and all kinds of different informational links pop up :-) Questions like:
How to grow vanilla beans
Can you grow vanilla beans in egypt
Vanilla bean gardening
Hope this helps :-)
I live in Coffs Harbour, NSW and have been told that I would have to move further North if I want to grow Vaniila. We have a sub tropical climate and most tropical fruits grow really well here. I would love to hear your thoughts regarding this matter.
During the summer you could leave it outside but after that you have to bring it inside because the cold weather will kill it. When you bring it inside the house make sure you put it in a sunny spot.
This is a page about growing vanilla beans in India. Like other members of the orchid family, vanilla grows best in partial shade in a temperate climate with high amounts of moisture and humidity.
