On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:50:02 -0700, sf > wrote:

>On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:47:28 -0600, "gloria.p" >
>wrote:
>
>>
>> Vanilla beans/pods are the fruit of a species of orchid. Therefore they
>> will grow anywhere (tropical) where orchids grow.
>
>They aren't easy to grow either. A friend who owns land up in the
>mountains of Costa Rica tried and didn't become a vanilla farmer.

If you do not have the correct moth- which actually fertilizes the
vanilla orchid flower, it is almost impossible to get pods. Vanilla
from Tahiti grows very well here, but we do not have the moth. Lots
of potential vanilla growers have given it up.

The flower opens one day and you have 2 hours to do the deed.

Not easy and why Vanilla is so precious and pricey.

In the land of a million vanilla pollinating moths, it would be a
snap.

aloha,
Cea