Vanilla, Turmeric Join Market as Greenhouse Herbs
October 26, 2022 
Brian and Shelley Fehrenbacher, co-owners of Fallen Oak Farms and Tampa Greenhouses in Tampa, FL, started growing vanilla in early 2022. Photo: Fallen Oak Farms/Tampa Greenhouses
Herbs are commonplace in greenhouses, but some have only entered the market in recent years. Vanilla and turmeric are on the rise as greenhouse-grown crops, due to years of research and looking for the most profitable market for these products. Dr. Alan Chambers, Assistant Professor in the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida, says it has been challenging to grow vanilla because there is a prevalence of sterile plants. Growers have also tried to grow the wrong species, he says, noting that there are only two varieties of vanilla that are approved for food use as vanilla extract. There are also disease problems, such as “silent viruses” that take nutrition from the plants without showing any disease symptoms.
Dr. Chambers’ research team has found a number of diverse, bean-producing vanilla plants with no diseases. They partner with growers in south Florida and help them cultivate clean planting material, which comes from commercial propagators near Orlando, FL.
Brian and Shelley Fehrenbacher, owners of Fallen Oak Farms and Tampa Greenhouses in Valrico, FL, collaborated with the University of Florida to be a test site for growing organic, premium vanilla. Shelley says they are fulfilling a need for the high demand of organic vanilla in the health food industry, as well as essential oil and aromatherapy market.
“You have to make sure that you’re getting pure vanilla. You can’t just go to the farmers’ market and get vanilla orchids,” Shelley Fehrenbacher says. “You have to do your due diligence and make sure it comes from a reputable grower and is pure vanilla. Our premium vanilla orchids are Vanilla plantifolia. Not all orchids labeled vanilla will give you vanilla beans.”
J.J. Minetola of Mise En Place Farm in Davidsonville, MD, sells turmeric at local farmers’ markets for $1.25 per ounce. Photo: J.J. Minetola
Ginger, Turmeric Have High Profit Margin
Dr. Paul Fisher, Professor and Extension Specialist in the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida, says most growers who are growing ginger and turmeric for food produce it in fields, high tunnels, or shade structures to reduce costs. However, he says growing ginger and turmeric as container crops for home gardeners is “a very realistic proposition in a greenhouse.”
“With tissue culture liners from AgriStarts,” Fisher says, “these are easy crops to grow and produce multiple stems that fill out a container.”
“They have a quick crop time, and it will only be two to three months to produce a plant in a 1- to 2-gallon container,” he says.
J.J. Minetola of Mise En Place Farm in Davidsonville, MD, grows ginger and turmeric in an unheated high tunnel. Minetola sells the ginger and turmeric at a local farmers’ market, where he receives $1.50 per ounce for ginger and $1.25 per ounce for turmeric. He also sells the herbs wholesale to a local shop, Rutabaga Juicery, and Minetola earns $9 to $10 per pound.
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