Climatic conditions:
•Tropical climate warm and humid
•Temperatures of 22 °C to32 °C
•Relative humidity of 80%
•Anual precipitation of 1.200 mm
•Sea level 0 to 600 m
•Soil with good drainage and ample organic matter (humus)
•pH of 6 to 7

Cultivating traditionally:
•Cultivation is established on hillsides increasing the cost of maintenance due to the physical difficulties encountered by the field workers

Planting techniques:
•Young trees are uniformly planted to facilitate maintenance and care, reducing the coast of production while increasing yield.

Shade-house production:
•The advantage of this system is the optimization of labour, and better control over cultivation for a superior product.

Flowering pollination:
•Generally the first flowering of Planifolia occurs on three year old trees; normally flowering only once a year. Flowering dates in Mexico: Normally in March and April
•On the coasts of Madagascar in November and January.
•On the Islands of Comores between December and January.
•On the Islands of Reunion in December and January.
•On the French Antilles, Charlote Amalie, San Bartolomé, María Galante in Febuary to March.

Pollination:
•In Mexico it is said that pollination yields by bees and humming birds are low. The most effective method, to assure a good production, is hand pollination.

•How is pollination accomplished? By washing the thin membrane of the rosette which is situated between the male organ (anther) and the female (stigma) pressing the pollen against the inferior surface of stigma. If pollination is successful the flower remains on the raceme, otherwise it will fall off in three days. Consequently the number of fruits pollinated can be observed within a short time. The flower will be pollinated again until the number of fruits visible is from 6 to 7.

•Number of flowers that are pollinated by plant: the number of flowers which are fertilizes by hand, depends on the vigor and the availability and water. If too many flowers are pollinated, the plant is debilitated and attacked by diseases, lowering the yield. This is criterion is followed to obtain a good yield, weight and fruit size, without debilitating the plant. Generally a new plant can support 6 to15 fruits, an adult plant 30 to 60 fruits, a very vigorous plant 100 or more fruits. In order to obtain 60 fruits, 85 flowers must pollinate.

• Life span of the orchid: The flowers generally open between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. fertilization can only occur until 1 p.m. The flower that is not fertilized the day it opens, will withered and be unsuitable. It is very difficult to pollinate more that two or three flowers per pot in the same day, because only one flower opens daily per pot.

• Maturation time: The maturation of the fruit takes 9 months; that is why there is reference made to that of a pregnant woman.

What do we call cut :
•To harvest the fruits (beans).
•Dates of cut (by Presidential Decree)
•In Mexico on November 15 (by Presidential Decree on March 18 in1943). For the State of Veracruz, stipulated by the COVERVAINILLA (Veracruz Advisories on Vanilla) on December 10.

The beans reach their total maturation when:
•It reaches between 15 and 25 cm in length. Appearance: firm and thick. Greenish yellow color. Tenuous aroma. Do not let the bean mature in its pod, it will affect the quality. It is believed that when the bean is red with coffee coloured spots in the inferior end or cracked, it matured before its time because of a change in temperature or stress to the plant. If the bean pod is cracked and opened longitudinally then the fruit is weak. In both cases immediate attention is required.

Abortion and causes:
Loss of fruit prematurely, some of the influencing factors are: Bad pollination, lack of humidity during flowering time and the development of the fruit.
Excess of flowers fertilized inthe flowerpot.

Process
1.Our company receives green vanilla beans
2.Our employees separate the bean from the raceme
3.The beans are separated by types: splits, cuts and whole beans. The splits and cuts are put into cedar wooden boxes. The whole beans go through a cleaning process and then placed into cedar boxes as well.
4.When the boxes are filled they go to the ovens.