How to Grow Vanilla on a Balcony

Purchase orchid cuttings from a reputable exotic plant company to start your vanilla orchid plant on your balcony.

Provide a support for the orchid vine to climb. Some growers place vanilla orchids around the base of a tree or a large pole while others start them on trellises or pergolas. For your balcony orchid, create a small-scale support of one of these types that works with the size of your balcony.

Plant the vanilla orchid in a mixture that includes such items as ground bark, granular charcoal, sphagnum moss or perlite. The vanilla orchid does not require soil because it is a vining air plant. As the aerial roots develop, they take needed water and nutrients from the air.

Place the vanilla orchid where it will get morning sun and filtered afternoon sun. The vanilla orchid prefers very warm balcony temperatures in the daytime and warm to cool temperatures at night. Daytime temperatures on your balcony should be approximately 80 to 90 degrees F., and from 60 to 70 degrees at night.

Provide moisture in the air around your orchid. It loves high humidity because this is how the aerial roots absorb moisture. If your balcony is not humid, mist the orchid each day with plain water in a spray bottle.

Train the vanilla orchid vines around the supports as they develop. Manually place the vines around the support if they do not reach for the support itself.

Grow your vanilla vines on the balcony for three years before expecting them to flower. At two and a half years, prune the ends from the lateral branches to encourage flowering. When flowering commences, each bloom lasts only one morning.

Hand pollinate the open bloom by using a toothpick or other slender object to open the rostellum, or flap inside the flower, and press the anther against the stigma to transfer the pollen. If the transfer is successful, the bloom will remain while the pod sets. If the flower falls off the vanilla plant by the next day, the pollination is unsuccessful.

Harvest your vanilla pods after a 9- or 10-month growing period. Pick them after the pod has darkened and has begun to split.