Indian Vanilla Beans

The vanilla beans are not allowed to fully ripen as this will lead to splitting of the vanilla beans. Hand harvesting is done four to six months after the fruit appears on the vanilla orchids. Vanilla orchids take nearly 3 years to flower. The vanilla flowers are open for a one month period. During this time these orchid flowers are hand pollinated. Approximately 1500 flowers can be pollinated by an efficient person during the time the vanilla flowers are open. The vanilla orchid can grow up to 350 feet height but is trimmed and kept to the height to which workers will be able to reach the flowers.