Vanilla: Planting and management

A: VANILLA- THE PLANT
Vanilla is a vine. It roots in the surface of the soil and climbs up a support. It is a perennial plant, which will grow for many years and can become very long. It is a cash crop.

Main parts of the Vanilla Plant:

• The stem: at the end of the stem is the growing tip
• Leaves: large leaves grow directly from the stem.
• Holders: at the join of each leaf with the stem, a small holder grows and holds the vine to the support.
• Buds: at the join of each stem and leaf is a bud. This bud can develop into either: a new growing shoot or a flowering shoot or new roots

How the bud develops depends on the management of the plant

• Growing shoot: a plant has one or more growing shoots, that produce new stems and leaves
• Flowers: flowering stems grow from the bud at the join of leaf and stem. Each flowering stem produces several flowers. Flowers are pollinated by hand.
• Beans: each flower can produce a single bean- the fruit of the plant.

Vanilla needs to grow in light shade and on a support. A tree can be used to give both shade and support.

Vanilla plant need good management (mulching, pruning, looping of vines, pollination of flowers, control of shade) to give a strong plants.

Well-managed vanilla will grow strongly, and give good regular yields of long thick beans, for 8 years or longer.

Vanilla is grown in Madagascar, Indonesia, Mexico, Uganda, Comoro islands and now in Tanzania.

B: NEEDS FOR VANILLA TO GROW
Vanilla needs a warm moist climate; plenty of rain; shade; a rich organic soil; a support tree or post to grow up.

a). Climate and rainfall
The crop needs temperature that ranges between 21-32[SUP]0[/SUP]C; high rainfall (over 1500mm/yr) and the longest rainy season. The minimum annual rainfall levels for vanilla are around 1250mm, but humidity is also important. Vanilla also needs a dry season of 2 to 4 months to help stimulate flowering
'Vanilla crop cannot grow in dry areas'

b). Shade and support
Vanilla needs some shade. It cannot grow in open fields. It also needs a support to climb up. Usually the shade and support is given by a small tree.

Shade: reduce the sunshine by about one third or one half. If the sun is too strong, the leaves will get sunburn (turn yellow). If the shade is too heavy, growth will be slow and pest and disease problems will increase. Shade levels must be controlled as the plant grows. It is better to plant small shade trees or use banana and coffee.

Support: Use a tree that can be established from cuttings, grows slowly, can be pruned, produces plenty of low branches so the vanilla can hang over it, and gives a light shade. Jatropha is an excellent tree. Glyricidia is an alternative.

c). Mulching
Put rotten organic matter on the ground around the plant. The plant roots in the surface of the soil. The mulch provides food for vanilla, keeps the soil light and open, and moist.

d). Growing vanilla with other crops
Vanilla can be grown with other perennial crops that are not too tall and do not give too heavy shade. Do not grow with annual crops that require digging of the soil- this will result in damage to the roots of vanilla. Do not use commercial crops as support: you will damage vanilla as you manage these crops.

Vanilla grows well in banana and coffee- they give shade and mulch, reduce wind and increase humidity.
Vanilla does not compete with other crops- roots very close to the surface in the mulch layer.

e). Soil
The soil must have good drainage and must not become compacted. Building up beds will improve drainage and keep the soil light and loose. Mulching and addition of organic matter will improve soil structure and quality

C: PLANTING
Before planting vanilla:

• Select/mark out the site for planting. Establish support trees (e.g. Jatropha). Land preparation and planting Jatropha should be done at the beginning of the dry season.

• Cut Jatropha trees (length of 1 -1.5 m)
• Leave them under shade for 7 - 10 days before planting.
• Dig holes (15 cm depth)
• Plant Jatropha. Replacement can be done for un-sprout ones.

Spacing: intra-rows 2 m and inter rows 3m.
a). Planting material for vanilla

• Use a length of vine that is one metre or longer. Longer cuttings give flowering in 1.5 - 2 years. Shorter cuttings will take longer, up to 3 years to start flowering.
• Take cuttings from recent growth of strong healthy plants. Cuttings need not have a growing shoot.
• Hang cuttings in the shade for 7 - 10 days before planting

b). Season for planting

• Plant at the beginning of the rainy season

• Clear the site where you are going to plant vanilla
• Remove all grass weeds and add organic matter. Build up beds if necessary
• Establish shade; you can use dried banana leaves. Young vanilla needs 50% shade
• Spacing follows that of support trees

Planting Vanilla vine

• Take the wilted vanilla vine, remove 4 -5 leaves and holders from the bottom end of the vine
• Dig a shallow trench (5-10 cm) at the base of the support tree
• Lay the bottom end of the vine, without leaves, in the trench
• Tie the top of the vine loosely to the support
• Band (not sharply) the vine at the base of the support
• Cover the vine in the trench with soil and press down gently to make good contact between soil and vine. Leave the cut bottom end of the vine above the soil
• Apply plenty of mulch around the plant. Dry grass makes good top mulch.

D: MANAGEMENT FOR GROWTH

Vanilla needs:

• Correct shade levels
• Light, well drained soil
• High moisture
• Good air circulation
• Regular feeding

Four major management activities for growth are:
Shade control, mulching, looping and weeding

• Shade control

Vanilla requires light shade. Reduce the sunshine by about one third or one half (this depends on the stage of growth)

• Too much shade will slow growth and increase pest and disease problems
• Too little shade gives sunburn of the leaves (yellowing)
• To stimulate flowering, reduce the shade to one third

• Mulching

• Mulching feeds the plant, keeps the soil moist, lightens the soil, provides the ideal rooting environment, and suppresses weeds
• Mulch should be applied at least 3 times/year. Do not dig it into the soil
• Use composted material. Any plant material can be used.

• Looping

Looping keeps the vines within reach and renews; and increases the root system. A strong, large and young root system is essential for good growth and yields and long life.
During the wet season:

• Select some long vines. Leave the growing shoot and the next 3 or 4leaves. Remove the next 2 to 4 leaves and holders and place this part of the vine under the mulch. The vine will make new roots here.
• Do not loop all the long vines; some long hanging vines will be needed at the start of the dry season to carry flowers
• A well managed vanilla plant should have a number of coils of vine hanging from the branches of the support and passing through the mulch
• Do not wind the vines around the trees horizontally. This makes the vine hard to manage.

Weeding

• Pull weeds by hand around the vanilla. Do not dig the ground close to the vanilla
• Put some extra soil around the plant after weeding

E: MANAGEMENT FOR FLOWERING AND YIELD
It is important to control plant yield. A plant forced to carry too many beans will become exhausted, and it's productive life will be shorter.
For a mature (4 - 5 year old) plant growing strongly, 80 to 100 beans per year is a good yield.

Two major activities are essential:

• Stimulation of flowering
• Pollination of flowers

a). Stimulation of flowering
Three factors stimulate flowering:

• The dry season: The main dry season in Bukoba is May to June.
• Reduction of shade: This is done at the start of the dry season. Reduce the shade to one third.
• Removal of the growing shoots of hanging vines: From each plant, select 2 - 4 long vines (depending on size and strength of the plant) that hang to the ground. Do not pass these vines through the mulch. Count back 5 leaves from the growing shoot and cut off this front piece. (It can used as planting material)

These practices should produce flowering shoots from the buds on the hanging vines. A new shoot will grow from the part of the vine that is bent over the branch.
Flowering starts 2 - 3 months after stimulation. If all factors are not present, flowering will be poor.

b). Pollination of flowers

• Each flower must be pollinated on the day that it opens
• Pollination should be done between 9 am and 1 pm in dry sunny conditions if possible. It is less successful in the afternoon and in wet, cloudy conditions

If pollination is not successful, the flower will drop off.
Pollination is simple but difficult to explain. Get someone to show you.

• After pollinating all flowers, remove small and bent beans, and extra beans, to leave a maximum of 8 - 12 beans per bunch, and 10 - 12 bunches per plant. Young and weak plants should have fewer beans

Too many beans on a plant will reduce yield in later years and will shorten plant life. Manage yield to get regular yields for many years.

Harvesting
Beans are ready for harvesting 7 - 9 months after pollination. Beans must not be harvested until they are ripe. Immature beans give poor quality vanilla.

There are 5 stages in bean ripening:

1. Immature beans are a uniform green colour- do not harvest these beans.
2. The bottom end of the bean turns yellow - this is the earliest a bean can be harvested
3. The yellow colour starts to spread up the bean and the tip turns brown.
4. The tip turns black and starts to split open
5. The whole bean splits open

1. Growers supplying traditional processors should harvest beans at stages 2 and 3 only.
2. Growers supplying rapid method chopped bean processors can harvest beans at stages 2, 3 and 4.
3. Stage 5 beans are over-ripe but they are still acceptable for rapid method chopped bean processors. Harvest beans before they reach this stage.
4. Harvest beans every 1 - 2 days so that all beans can be harvested at the right stage

Small beans and immature beans give poor quality cured vanilla. Split beans reduce the quality of traditionally cured vanilla
Harvesting will continue over 2 months as the individual beans ripen.

F: PRUNING AFTER HARVESTING

When all the beans have been harvested from a hanging vine, cut off the hanging vine where it hangs down from the branch. A new shoot will already be growing from this area. This new shoot will give the new vines for looping and flowering.

Take the cut hanging vines out of the plantation. These can be used for planting material, but the success rate for rooting and shoot growth may be low.

G: PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL
Severe pest and disease problems are often a sign of bad management and/ or bad site selection. The main remedy for pest and disease problems is improved management.

There will always be a low level of pest and disease damage. A small amount of damage is not a problem - yield losses will be small.

If you have pest or disease problems, consider the following checklist:

1. Spacing: If plants are too close, this will reduce air circulation and increase soil compaction around plants, giving good conditions for development of disease.
2. Shade: Is the shade too heavy? This will reduce growth and strength of plants, reduce air circulation, and give good conditions for pests and diseases.
3. Shade: Is the shade too light? If sunlight is too strong, plant will be sunburnt and weak and open to pest and diseases
4. Is the plant growing strongly? A weak plant is open to pest and disease infection. A strong plant can withstand more damage. Adjust shade, mulch and looping to give strong growth.
5. Root system: Is the root system large and strong? The vines should be looped through the mulch

cc: Narubongo, safariwafungo, payuka,

Tutembelee: Maruk Official website na Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maruku.vanillae.7?ref=tn_tnmn

Nimeona

Bei ya soko mkuu

Bei ya vanilla ni expensive sana inakadiriwa kama ndio zao ghali duniani lakini kule Bukoba naona wakulima wanavyolia bei cheap kutoka kwa walanguzi wa kitanzania na kiganda japo niliona wazungu wakija kununua wenyewe kwa bei ghali kwa wakulima directly.

First experience kutoka kwa wakulima niliowatembelea haikuniridhisha sababu walikua desperately na utaalam duni, nilishindwa kuwafikia wale waliofanikiwa kupata balanced observation.

REDEEMER. said:

Bei ya vanilla ni expensive sana inakadiriwa kama ndio zao ghali duniani lakini kule Bukoba naona wakulima wanavyolia bei cheap kutoka kwa walanguzi wa kitanzania na kiganda japo niliona wazungu wakija kununua wenyewe kwa bei ghali kwa wakulima directly.

First experience kutoka kwa wakulima niliowatembelea haikuniridhisha sababu walikua desperately na utaalam duni, nilishindwa kuwafikia wale waliofanikiwa kupata balanced observation.

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Interesting....Tanzania ni Bukoba n.a. Mbeya tu ndio linastawi?