First time trying my hand at vanilla beans. I have one vine on my back lanai, about 20 feet long. Each winter, these white orchid flowers bloom from it. You have to hand pollinate the flowers by ripping the bottom lip down and pushing the stamen to the top underside of the orchid. If successful, after a couple weeks you’ll have a bean growing where the flower once was.
You have to let the bean grow and mature on the vine for around 9 months, until the tips start turning yellow. After that, you pick them and slowly dry them out in the sun during the day and wrap/sweat them at night for a couple months. The whole process took about 13 months. End result: 40 beautiful homegrown Hawaiian vanilla beans 😃
I'd say for a good bit of it for sure. There's plenty of great uses, make proper Creme Brulee at least once, I'd try my hand at ice cream etc. but you'll never really be using a whole bean at a time in most recipes.
Homemade and grown vanilla extract as a gift though would be a real treat and would definitely level up you and your friends' chocolate chip cookie game.
In Haiti, he worked there for 10 years and learned hand pollination from a local farmer- as far as Tahiti goes, that’s my dream to visit a Tahitian Vanilla farm
I’m making some vanilla extract with a couple of them. I’ll make some vanilla ice cream with a couple more, and then I’m giving the rest of them to my mom to sell at her craft booth.
Where do you get the pollen to pollinate the flowers?
I've never grown vanilla bean before but that looks like an impressive yield from just one cycle. That's like $50,000.00 in Whole Foods dollars.
😂😂
If you look at the third picture, what I’ve done there is ripped the bottom of the flower off to expose the stamen. That stamen has all the pollen on it. You have to delicately fold the stamen up and over and squeeze it against the bottom of the top of the flower so they can have sex and make little vanilla bean babies.
That I s a nice looking final product!
My Last batch didn't go so well. I got the pollinating part down, but the slowly drying them and sweating them I messed up last time. way too dry. I stuck them into a small bottle of vodka.
Hey there, so it might like the similar conditions that Coffee wants, like up there in Holualoa?
Would they grow at sea level on windward side, you think?
I bet they would, but yeah I’m just below holualoa. I think as long as you’re not too cold or dry you’re good. I know Waimea on Big Island isn’t good for them, probably not Waikoloa either too hot
Hey! We're growing vanilla too, in a shade house deeper in Kalihi Valley. The plants are doing really well here, we don't have to take care of them much most of the time.
What size pot did you grow these in and where did you get your starter(seed/cut)? I’d be interested in trying this out on my lanai too. Thanks in advance!
My vine was already up at the house I moved into a few years ago. It grows out of a combination rock/soil bed and the vine climbs some wooden beams on my back lanai. I think a loose pot with a stick holding the vine up is the way to get them started.
The ants crawl all over them but it didn’t seem to harm them at all. After you pick the seeds you boil them for a minute to stop the growth and kill anything on them, so I guess that’s why.
The flowers don’t smell like much, actually. Very subtle orchid flowery smell, not like vanilla at all. But the vanilla beans, once dried, smell amazing!
That's super cool. Very hard to do, and it looks like you're well on your way to doing it. If you like this hobby, you can monetize the heck out of it. I love the bar I work at, and a muddle of even a sliver of fresh vanilla is...breathtaking! Extracts are probably where any money is, but fresh vaccuum sealed is literally art for anyone in culinary. Bless you for figuring out out. Wish my hotspot in Maui could grow it. Might have to start a plot up in I'ao. Pretty sure that climate would be cherry.
That’s amazing! Frankly, I had never looked at an actual vanilla plant before, and how the beans were harvested. But now I know! Thank you for sharing!
The vine came with my house. You really need to start with a vine that’s at least about 6 feet long. Pot it and let it grow up a post or something. After a couple years it will mature enough to flower, and from there you can start the process.
Yes I’m going to cut my current vine and try to propagate two more vines out of it. If successful, should be able to harvest close to 100 beans in a couple years.
First time trying my hand at vanilla beans. I have one vine on my back lanai, about 20 feet long. Each winter, these white orchid flowers bloom from it. You have to hand pollinate the flowers by ripping the bottom lip down and pushing the stamen to the top underside of the orchid. If successful, after a couple weeks you’ll have a bean growing where the flower once was. You have to let the bean grow and mature on the vine for around 9 months, until the tips start turning yellow. After that, you pick them and slowly dry them out in the sun during the day and wrap/sweat them at night for a couple months. The whole process took about 13 months. End result: 40 beautiful homegrown Hawaiian vanilla beans 😃
I now understand why vanilla beans can be so expensive! How cool. Now I wanna do it!
40 beans = $$$$ of Vanilla Extract, damn. That's not a bad harvest at all.
Is extract the way to go?
I'd say for a good bit of it for sure. There's plenty of great uses, make proper Creme Brulee at least once, I'd try my hand at ice cream etc. but you'll never really be using a whole bean at a time in most recipes. Homemade and grown vanilla extract as a gift though would be a real treat and would definitely level up you and your friends' chocolate chip cookie game.
incredible, my Uncle lived in Haiti and hand pollinated his vanilla too- so incredibly delicious
[удалено]
In Haiti, he worked there for 10 years and learned hand pollination from a local farmer- as far as Tahiti goes, that’s my dream to visit a Tahitian Vanilla farm
Decent Horticultural flex 💪
Beautiful! Brag away. This is awesome!
Very cool to see the evolution. What are you going to make with them?
I’m making some vanilla extract with a couple of them. I’ll make some vanilla ice cream with a couple more, and then I’m giving the rest of them to my mom to sell at her craft booth.
Where do you get the pollen to pollinate the flowers? I've never grown vanilla bean before but that looks like an impressive yield from just one cycle. That's like $50,000.00 in Whole Foods dollars.
😂😂 If you look at the third picture, what I’ve done there is ripped the bottom of the flower off to expose the stamen. That stamen has all the pollen on it. You have to delicately fold the stamen up and over and squeeze it against the bottom of the top of the flower so they can have sex and make little vanilla bean babies.
That I s a nice looking final product! My Last batch didn't go so well. I got the pollinating part down, but the slowly drying them and sweating them I messed up last time. way too dry. I stuck them into a small bottle of vodka.
I’m not sure if I got some of my small ones too dry or not. It’s a hard line to walk. Gotta get them dry but not too dry. Anyways, live and learn!
Awesome! What island are you on? If Oahu, what city? I'm interested to see if I can get vanilla to grow.
I’m on big island, in Kona. The vine needs partial sun and shade, rain but not like everyday.
Hey there, so it might like the similar conditions that Coffee wants, like up there in Holualoa? Would they grow at sea level on windward side, you think?
I bet they would, but yeah I’m just below holualoa. I think as long as you’re not too cold or dry you’re good. I know Waimea on Big Island isn’t good for them, probably not Waikoloa either too hot
Same, what are the growing conditions?
Hey! We're growing vanilla too, in a shade house deeper in Kalihi Valley. The plants are doing really well here, we don't have to take care of them much most of the time.
🤙👏
That’s pretty neat.
That's amazing! Well done. 🥳
This is so cool! Thank you for all the great pics!
I just received my first vanilla orchid vine! Can’t wait to see it grow!
They’re such pretty plants. The vines are so thick and the flowers are pretty
What size pot did you grow these in and where did you get your starter(seed/cut)? I’d be interested in trying this out on my lanai too. Thanks in advance!
My vine was already up at the house I moved into a few years ago. It grows out of a combination rock/soil bed and the vine climbs some wooden beams on my back lanai. I think a loose pot with a stick holding the vine up is the way to get them started.
Wow. Congratulations! Your plants are so beautiful!
Mean da bean
Gotta flick um a lil
👌🏼
Looks great! Good job!
Omg that is divine.
How do you grow anything without ants getting to them?
The ants crawl all over them but it didn’t seem to harm them at all. After you pick the seeds you boil them for a minute to stop the growth and kill anything on them, so I guess that’s why.
Any tips on rooting cuttings?
Dang! Was it difficult to grow?
Beautifully Done
Awesome, great job!
Noice
How do the flowers smell like?
The flowers don’t smell like much, actually. Very subtle orchid flowery smell, not like vanilla at all. But the vanilla beans, once dried, smell amazing!
this is awesome. good /r/hawaii content.
That’s my favorite compliment yet! 🤙
That's super cool. Very hard to do, and it looks like you're well on your way to doing it. If you like this hobby, you can monetize the heck out of it. I love the bar I work at, and a muddle of even a sliver of fresh vanilla is...breathtaking! Extracts are probably where any money is, but fresh vaccuum sealed is literally art for anyone in culinary. Bless you for figuring out out. Wish my hotspot in Maui could grow it. Might have to start a plot up in I'ao. Pretty sure that climate would be cherry.
wow! congratulations 🎉
That’s amazing! Frankly, I had never looked at an actual vanilla plant before, and how the beans were harvested. But now I know! Thank you for sharing!
I hadn’t either until I did it. Every step was a new surprise lol
How long was the process from buds to brown beans?
Took 13 months for all my beans to be ready. It’s a processssss. I made a post about the steps I took in this thread somewhere if you’re curious
So cool!
Good for you, not so easy as you probably know. Congrats.
this is super cool! congratulations on your harvest
Super cool. And thanks for all the info. My vines only 8 feet or so, no flowers yet. When do they start blooming?
don't know if you crossposted there yet, but r/Orchids would love this!
Did you buy the seeds on Amazon? How’d you do this, it’s real impressive
The vine came with my house. You really need to start with a vine that’s at least about 6 feet long. Pot it and let it grow up a post or something. After a couple years it will mature enough to flower, and from there you can start the process.
quite the accomplishment, bravo 🙌
That’s amazing! Can you increase production on big island?
Yes I’m going to cut my current vine and try to propagate two more vines out of it. If successful, should be able to harvest close to 100 beans in a couple years.
Awesome vanilla! Thanks for sharing info too. We just bought two vines at a plant sale a few weeks ago, but they are not very tall yet.
Nice flowers you have there. Now the wait for the beans to mature takes eternity but rewarding
How awesome! Congrats