Eetbare tuin-edible garden Vanilla planifolia - Vanilla plant

• Article number: VANPLA01

Vanilla planifolia or true vanilla is the source of one of the most favorite flavors in the world. The Aztec used to use the vanilla plant to flavor cocoa (Theobroma cocoa).
This vanilla plant is family of the orchid and grows wildly in tropical forests of, inter alia, Mexico and Central America. The vanilla plant would like a sheltered warm place and not immediately in the full afternoon sun.
This orchid is loved to be sprayed with lukewarm water a few times a week.

Of all orchid species, only the Vanilla is the plant used to win vanilla. There are around 20 kinds of vanilla plants depending on where they grow on the world. However, 95% of ordinary vanilla comes from the Vanilla planifolia.
This vanilla climbing plant has elongated dark green thick leathery leaves.
In the wild, the vanilla plant can become more than 30 meters long.
Pruning the plant makes these more side shoots. These new shoots activate the creation of new flowers.

The flowers are initially colored green / yellow and once completely open yellow with an orange heart. Flowers open in the morning and are pollinated by bees / bumblebees. If your plant is in it, you can poll the flowers with a toothpick ( see this movie ).
The flowers do not smell vanilla but smell light sweet and fresh.
About 7-8 days after pollination, the pod begins to grow. The elongated green pods eventually grow to 20 cm in length.

After about 8 weeks the pods can be harvested and dried. Fresh pods have no taste yet. Now they are fermented (see the film below).
While drying the pods, they color to dark brown to black and make the vanilla flavor. Often there are white vanilla crystals on the outside of the vanilla sticks.
After drying, you can also store the vanilla sticks in a closed glass chair. This allows you to save them for years and only become stronger.
Winter hardness zone 12 (+ 16ºC).