The flower then wilts and a green bean begins to appear.
Once these have grown and matured, which can take up to 6 months, the pods are picked and blanched in boiling hot water to stop growth.
During this curing process the pods undergo fermentation and turn black in colour.
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Vanilla pod production is a time consuming and labour intensive process.
The vanilla orchid blooms for a period of 3 hours during which time the flower must be hand pollinated
They are then laid out in the sun for up to 5 hours a day to dry out and then at night they are wrapped tightly in blankets and locked in airtight chests to sweat.
This process is repeated for up to 36 days.
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