PANILI : PART 7

Vanilla is well known as a food flavoring.

It's really popular all over the world.

The flavor is so special, so a lot of peoples love vanilla.

The  'bean' usually is sold on the groceries for cooking or baking. 

We can also find the essential oil of vanilla for aromatherapy.

The essential oil of vanilla is used as antidepressant, antipiretik and give nice feeling. 

Did you feel better after drinking vanilla ice cream?

If we get headache or dizzy, why do not we try to use vanilla to treat it.

We also find vanilla's oleoresin on pasta form, that used as stuff in perfumery, food and beverages industries.

If we notice the vine, I think you will agree with me if I will grow it as ornamental.

The flower is so beautiful.

If I get fail on the pollinating process, at least I still get the beauty of its flower.

I hope you all have been enjoying this series.

I've shared all that I've known, although it just a little.

I should learn more about this plant and how to processing the 'bean'.

Yes, actually 'bean' is incorrect term to called this fruit, it should be called pod.

But no problem...as long as we have the same perception about this fruit.

I need more than nine months to prepare this series, and preserve to you all as seven day-monthly series.

Thank you so much reader for following this series.

See you on the next monthly series.

Have a nice weekend.

PANILI : PART 6

Yes... it needs patience...
We have to wait the ripening process get finish for about 8-9 months.
It's a very long period...

During the ripening process, this plant needs a favorable weather to get a high quality vanilla's beans.
On the harvesting season, the vanilla estate or garden will full of sweet fragrance of vanilla.
So nice...

This was the last condition of vanilla garden on Seedling Division.
I took some pictures there on July 21, and of course looked for some ripe fruits for air freshener in my living room.
The garden is full of vanilla scent.

Look the yellowish or black beans on the vine...

We are getting the ripe beans!
The smell is so sweet....

The over ripening vanilla' bean is usually cracked on its end, and the fragrance is so strong spread all over the garden.
The best time to pick the bean is when the bean get yellowish, before it's cracked.
The fresh beans are collected and then will blanched on the boiled water  just for a moment about 10-20 seconds.
After that, the blanched beans are drained over the absorbent cloth.

The blanched process is usually done on the afternoon.

If the bean have already getting dry, the bean will be fermented overnight on the absorbent cloth or the wooden fermentation box.
We put the beans on the absorbent cloth then covered it with the absorbent cloth too.
This early fermentation process is called 'sweating'.
The fermentation process is done to increase levels of vanillin on the 'bean'.
So... the aroma will much better.

The fermentation process is finished in the morning.
So the cloth will be opened and then we move the 'beans' onto drying tray to be sun dried.
Then we put the vanilla 'beans' to the fermentation box or cloth again in the night for previous fermentation.
The drying process is about 4-7 days.
The drying process is also carried fruit selection process.
It should not be exposed to direct sunlight, so the vanillin quality will be maintained either.
The drying process will be finished if the water content is about  25%.
Actually there are a lot of way in processing vanilla fruits, the process above is the simplest way.
If we do more complicated process, so we will get the better quality of 'bean' which contains high level of vanillin.
Ok readers, now we've gained the dry 'bean', that ready to be selected and then sold.
Next, we will talk about the use and benefit of vanilla.
See you tomorrow... and have an aromatic week...

PANILI : PART 5

One day after pollination we will know which flowers are successfully pollinated.But not all of pollination is success.
Only 50 - 80% of pollination will set fruits.
If flower is pollinated successfully, the flower will be wilted for several day, and still stand on the flower stalk until the little fruit have formed.
Fruit set is formed about 1-2 weeks after pollination. 
If the pollination is fail, the flower will fallen on to the ground one day later.

On the fruiting season, this plant needs nice humidity and warm temperature.
Too wet weather makes the fruit get rotten, but too dry and hot weather makes the fruit get dried then fallen.
This was the garden on February 2014, it means the fruits are about six month old after pollination.

This fruits must be on their favorable weather to getting mature and forming a nice flavor.
Too much rain makes the vanilla beans have low in vanillin.

The ripening period of the fruit is about 8-9 months.
It's so long....
We have to check the fruit clusters periodically, to make it sure no bugs and the garden's condition is favorable.
We also have to elevate soil around the plant to avoid puddles on the ground that could be make the stem get rotten.
The main problem is blight that caused by Fusarium oxysporum. 
Fusarium usually infested Vanila during wet and warm weather, also on bad drainage farm.
Have a wonderful week with my vanilla.

PANILI : PART 4

Vanilla usually gets early flowering at the first year after transplanting.

The flowering season usually occur during the rainy season.

The flower clusters appear from the segment on the leaf axil. 

There are 15-25 flower buds each cluster, even more.

Vanilla does have a very beautiful flower.
It looks like a common orchid's flower.

The yellowish-green petal is so interesting.
It only blooms about 3-4 hours in the morning.
It usually blooms since 06.00-10.00 AM .

On the wildlife, this pollination is done by the little bee species.

The pistil position is rater closed.

It's not easy for the 'big' pollinator to get inside and do pollination.

On the farmland or garden, we usually do hand pollination.

The best time to do pollination is on the early morning. 

It's usually done at 06.00-08.00 AM, when the flower is full blooming.

Can you imagine how busy the farmers in the morning to do pollination during the flowering season.

They only have a limited time to do pollination on so many flowers that blooming at these time.

This was the last flowering season on September 2013.

It's so much pleasure to follow all section of this plant.

Next we will  talk about fruiting of this vanilla.

Have an aromatic day with my vanilla.

PANILI : PART 3

Vanilla has very long stem, it's up to 50 meter.

The vanilla stems has some segments.

Each segment is about 10-20 cm.

Each stem segment appears root.
This is the type of aerial root

The roots will firmly attached to the bark of the shading tree or other support.

Each root is located side by side to the leaf on each segment.

The main shoot will grow lengthwise, if we don't cut it.
So we have to cut the long stem to set the canopy.

We usually grow Vanilla from stem cutting.

We only need stem that is not too old, also not too young.

The cutting is about two or three segments. 

Then we put the cutting on the seedling media.

The seedling media consists of mixture of sand and compost.

The seedling is ready to be transplanted after the new shoots have 4-5 segment.
It's need about 3-4 months.
We have to prepare a planting hole with compost on it, near the trunk of the shading tree.
This plant is need high humidity, but doesn't like wet land.
Next we will talk about the pollination.
Enjoy your day, and have a wonderful day with the vanilla's fragrance.

PANILI : PART 2

Vanilla grows well on the shady or part shady areas.
Here, on tropical area, the plant is usually grown on the middle land or highland up to 1,200 meter from sea level.

This plant loves part shady, cool place, and fairy high humidity.
Vanilla needs soil that rich on organic stuff and good drainage.
We should avoid it from swamp or wet land area, cause it will get rotten soon.

We have to grow shading trees at the first, not just for it shades, but also to support this vines.
The main function of the shading trees are as a support to climb on and give a favorable temperature, humidity and sun shine.
There are some tree for the shading, but the three most popular are Gamal (Glyricidia sepium), Dadap (Erythryna sp) and Lamtoro.

These trees are members of family Leguminosae.
So... they also give more nutrition to the vanilla vine.
They can do symbiosis with Azotobacter to fixate nitrogen from the soil.
And the soil will rich on nitrogen for the plant's growth.

Farmer prefer to grow Glyricidia, cause this plant is a fast growing, strong and easy to grow.
It grows well by cutting, especially during the rainy season.
The leaves also great as a fodder for goats.

But... look this one...
The vanilla vine is climbing on the wall, so the side door of this barn have never opened already.
This is the forgotten seedling, that have been growing by itself and have found wall as the support.
I really love it...
It's really inspired to grow vanilla in my home garden without shading tree.
Cause shading tree will make my tiny garden looks so narrow.

OK... next we will talk about how to grow vanilla.
See you tomorrow and have a nice day with my vanilla. 

PANILI : PART 1

Do you like vanilla ice or vanilla fragrance for your parfume?
Oh... of course...
I will share you  about Panili or vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) as a Monthly Series for this month.
Hope you all will enjoy it.

In Indonesia this plant is called panili.
Actually vanilla is not originated from Indonesia, but it's came from Mexico.
This plant grow well on the wet tropical forest.
Vanilla was arrived in Indonesia at 1819 by a botanist called Marchal.
This plant first was planted on Bogor Botanical Garden, West Java.
Then vanilla was grown in some places on Java, Sumatera and Bali, and mostly in Java.
Vanilla from Java is very popular on the world wide, and it's well known as Java Vanilla Bean.
This vanilla is well known cause contains a high quality vanillin.
Vanillin is a compound that produce the fragrance.
Vanilla is a potential agricultural product, cause the price is so high.
Here, we call it 'Emas Hijau' or green gold.
It's really valuable product.
But it needs special place also special handling to get high quality vanilla bean.
Next, we will talk about the cultivation.
Hope you enjoy this series, and have a fragrant day with my vanilla.