Chayote (Chuchu, Christophine) or Mirliton
Sechium edule (CUCURBITACEAE)
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
Chayote or Mirliton
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow chayote or mirliton in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many chayote or mirliton to plant
- Growing conditions for chayote or mirliton
- When to plant chayote or mirliton
- How to plant chayote or mirliton
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning chayote or mirliton
- Companion plantings for chayote or mirliton
- How to harvest, store, and use chayote or mirliton
Growing Chayote or Mirliton
Chayote is a warm-season, vining, perennial vegetable. Chayote bears insignificant flowers and green, bristly, pear-shaped, large-seeded fruit in autumn on vines to 50 ft. (15 m) long. Chayote is a gourd-family (cucurbit) relative.
Its fruit tastes of both nuts and squash. Every part of chayote is edible, from its leaves to the large seed in its fruit. Choose cultivars known to be successful in your region.
Chayote are native to moist, tropical areas of Central America but have been introduced around the world.
Chayote Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 1 vine per 4 household members, yielding 100–150 or more fruit per vine; requires at least 2 plants to ensure adequate cross-pollination and fruit production.
How to Plant
Seed germinates in 10–12 days. Sow seed or whole fruit in full sun in spring when soil warms to 65–85°F (18–29°C). Sow seed 6–8 in. (15–20 cm) deep, 2 ft. (60 cm) apart, thinning to 10 ft. (3 m) apart, in rows 10–12 ft. (3–3.7 m) apart, or plant seedlings 10 ft. (3 m) apart, installing sturdy trellises or wire supports, 10 ft. (3 m) tall, at time of planting.
Best Conditions for Growth
Growing temperature: 65–80°F (18–27°C). Zones 7–11; grow as annual, zones 4–6. Best in mild-winter, mild-summer climates.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich. 6.0–6.8 pH. Prepare soil at least 30 in. (75 cm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize monthly during growth with 10–10–10 formula or well-rotted manure. Mulch before first frost, zones 7–8. Avoid deep cultivation that could cut the shallow, widespread roots. Train vines onto trellises or wire supports. Aphid, vine borer, squash bug and fungal disease susceptible.
Tends to be invasive in moist, tropical conditions and is prohibited in some jurisdictions.
Pairing Recommendations
Corn, peppers, pumpkin, and squash.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
Autumn of first season, annually thereafter. Pick fruit when 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) in diameter.
How to Store and Preserve
Fresh in vegetable keeper of refrigerator for 4–6 weeks; steamed and canned, 1 year. All parts are edible: fruit, steamed or sautéed; soft seeds, sliced and eaten in salads or chopped and used as a nut substitute with a flavor and texture that resembles squash; tender young vine tips, eaten raw in salads or stir-fried; leaves, steamed for greens; tubers, boiled or baked.