It’s been a year since I acquired my darling Vanilla Planifolia, and I’m happy to report it is going strong. I repotted it for the first time in early spring. I decided to repot it again; this time in terra cotta for better aeration, and I added a moss pole for it to climb. I used: •1/2 inch square mesh opening, green vinyl coated hardware cloth •Wire cutters • 4 inch standard cable ties (a.k.a. zip ties) •8.25 inch terra cotta flower pot •Long-fiber sphagnum moss •Orchid coarse blend bark mix •Perlite •Sphagnum peat moss Using the wire cutter, I cut the hardware cloth and rolled it into a cylindrical shape. Then opened it to lightly pack in damp long-fiber sphagnum moss that was soaked in water, with excess squeezed out. After wrapping and slightly overlapping the wire mesh openings, I zip tied them, and cut the visible excess plastic with wire cutters. Upon placing the pole in the terra cotta pot, I filled in the bottom half of the pot with the blend of orchid bark mix, perlite, and sphagnum peat moss. Do not use standard potting soil for orchids. I added the vanilla orchid root ball, filled in more aforementioned substrate mixture, and topped off the last 1-2 inches with long-fiber sphagnum moss (for moisture retention). After training and wrapping the short vines around the moss pole, I gave it a generous watering to settle everything in place. Still young, this orchid won’t be mature enough to support flowers and vanilla pods for a couple more years. It’ll be WORTH the wait! * * * #vanillaplanifolia #vanilla #vanillaplant #horticulture #orchid #orchidsofinstagram #spice #balconygarden #plantsofinstagram #plants #plantsmakemehappy #homegarden (at 02169) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRNdQKNsRfC/?utm_medium=tumblr