Qingchun Liu and Xingbo Wu
Vanilla is a relatively new crop south Florida, particularly Miami-Dade County. Information on how to grow a productive crop, particularly at the commercial level, is needed for potential growers. This article is adapted from a recent workshop on vanilla cultivation with a focus on the nutrient and pest management practices for this specialty crop.
Nutrient management. Vanilla needs 17 nutrients, but N, P, and K are the 3 most critical nutrients for its growth, in which N is for leaf and stem growth, P affects root growth and flowering, K is for plant vigor, disease resistance, and pod development. Vanilla obtains nutrients mainly through roots, and foliar application of nutrients is not recommended because of its low absorption efficiency.
It is recommended to apply fertilizer according to the time of year and the age of a plant, either water-soluble or controlled-release fertilizer. You start to apply fertilizer when vanilla plants start growing, between February and April in Homestead. For young plants of 0-2 years, you can apply 10-50 g of N per plant per year, while 50-200 g of N per plant per year for plants of more than 2 years. For young plants, a balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, may favor the plant’s overall growth. For mature plants, you can increase the amount of K to support flowering and pod development, besides the recommended amount of N. Using CRF fertilizer may save time and labor costs, and you can apply CRF every 2-3 months. Besides monitoring the plant vigor for nutrient status, you can check the nutrient levels by conducting a leaf sap nutrient test and comparing your results to a recommended range.
Disease management. There are two major diseases on vanilla, Fusarium root and stem rot, and vanilla mosaic virus, though neither causes destructive loss to vanilla production.
Fusarium root and stem rot is a soilborne disease, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. radices-vanilla. There is few information on how to manage this disease, and there is no resistant cultivars against this disease.
Vanilla mosaic virus does not show symptoms during vegetative growth, but starts to develop symptoms during bean development, which decreases the bean yield. The virus is spread by humans during the pollination process, and there is no cure for the viral disease.
We have ongoing projects to increase our knowledge in better management of nutrients, diseases, and weeds in the production of vanilla. Please stay tuned for our future updates/workshops on vanilla production.
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