Vanilla Bean - squashed and damaged in mail

Hi -

With my recent foray into the world of container gardening, I also bought a vanilla bean plant. I understand that they're an orchid, and a climbing plant.

I was shocked (and am dealing with the nursery where I got it) at the damage caused to the pretty little thing during transport. it's plastic pot was crushed in shipping and many of its waxy leaves appear to have been frozen in addition to being squashed.

It's still alive however - and I'd like to rescue it and turn it into a beautiful little climber in my office.

Any suggestions on how to encourage it to grow and recover?

Thanks!

vanilla bean plants is new to me sounds interesting. Let us know how this works out for you.

I have used a seed tray with a clear plastic dome. Vanilla bean can grow very fast under the right conditions. Moderate temperature (70 - 85) degrees with +50% humidity. They like bright or medium indirect light (No Sun). If a leaf froze it will turn brown eventually. Avoid temperature extremes. In the winter, they are not too fussy as long as they don't get to cold.

Update on my VB - The section I thought froze, definitely did - it's brown and shrinking (starting to look a bit like a floppy, elongated raisin - if a raisin were a vine, that is).

Do you think it's safe to just clip it back to the healthy stuff?

Thanks!

Yes, you can clip off the dead tissue, Those white nodes along the vine will let you know if the vine is actively growing. They will turn a light green. One end of the vine must be rooted in the growing medium or it will slowly wither. Once it gets a certain size it acts like other orchids without need for soil. I think it will outgrow the 6 in. pot this season.