by Jennifer Poindexter
Have you ever listen of chayote squeeze ?
It is n’t a veggie find on many market depot shelves . In fact , chayote is technically a fruit . Since it ’s inclined as a veggie , we ’ll address it as such in this article .
Chayote belongs to the gourd house . It also has a unique nip visibility which is a cross between a cucumber and summertime squash with a slight nuttiness to it .
Are you interested in try this unique produce ? If you ’d like to spring up something new and fascinating , do n’t skip over chayote . I ’m going to fill you in on all you should know to grow this prosperous - to - produce veggie .
Here ’s how you could go about growing chayote around your home or garden .
Growing Conditions for Chayote
Chayote is a warm conditions crop . Therefore , it will need 150 days spare of Robert Lee Frost to strain its full potential at harvest .
This vegetable farm on a vine and produces pear - form fruit . you’re able to eat almost every part of the plant including the stem , leaves , and fruit .
It ’s important to ensure you plant chayote where it will flourish . This industrial plant involve full sun and informal , well - draining grunge .
Chayote can rise in fond shade . However , it will have a electronegative impact on the harvest of this crop . It ’s also important to mark that chayote ca n’t grow in every planting zone .
As you’re able to probably imagine , there are some planting geographical zone which do n’t receive 150 hoarfrost - free day in a year .
For this intellect , chayote grows best in planting zones seven and high . It can only overwinter in planting zone eight and high . Even in planting geographical zone eight , chayote is consider a legal tender perennial .
Take all of this into accounting before adding chayote to your growing space . However , if you could furnish the necessary raise conditions , you could be well on your fashion to savor a new veggie at harvest time .
How to Plant Chayote
Planting chayote is a unique experience . You wo n’t start with a pack of seeds as you would other crops . rather , you must start out with an intact fruit .
Chayote seeds spud best inside the mature fruit from an constituted works . Therefore , you ’ll plant the intact chayote squash in the reason . You do n’t necessitate to govern the produce from a especial shop class .
alternatively , if you could ascertain a local grocer who sells chayote , you may purchase one straight from the ledge . Do attempt to find a squash that has a tough skin . This will do good you during the planting unconscious process .
Once the chayote is purchase , do n’t plant it like a shot . Instead , go out it on the counter , in full Dominicus , for a few weeks .
During this time , the squash racquets should produce a sprout . Wait until it ’s approximately a one-half foot in distance before found .
When your chayote is quick to plant , ensure all threat of frost is over and the weather is fond . You want the temperatures to be in the mid-80 ’s at the prison term of planting . This typically go on about a calendar month after the last frost date .
At the appropriate meter , dig a jam that ’s about a half foot deep . Amend the soil prior to planting . pose the rounded last of the chayote into the hole first .
Plant the squash at an angle , and insure the pointed oddment , with the sprout , is at soil level . This way , when you cover the planted chayote , the sprout will be the only matter protruding from the primer coat .
If you ’re grow multiple plants , ensure you leave ten foot of blank space between each of them .
After your chayote is in the priming , irrigate it on occasion . It ’s urge to maturate chayote in full Dominicus because it not only avail your harvest time , but it will also protect the plant while it grows .
Chayote is susceptible to rot . Therefore , if it ’s watered only when it ’s juiceless and planted in a sunny location , there ’s less chance of rotting .
hold off until three dependable leave form on the sprout of the chayote , after the clock time of planting . When this occurs , pinch the end of the sprout to make the first true arm of the Modern plant .
If you ’d prefer to grow chayote in a container , particularly if you live in one of the lower recommended planting zones , you may .
Your container should be two feet inscrutable . Otherwise , you ’ll implant the chayote the exact way as mentioned above .
grow chayote in a container will prove helpful if there ’s a dip in temperatures prior to harvest . you could move the plant indoors and keep open it from abrasive condition .
Hopefully these gratuity will set you to set your chayote successfully and get the maturate process started on the right foot .
Caring for Chayote
As in - depth of a process as it is to institute chayote , oddly , it is n’t nearly as in - deepness to give care for it . If you could water , fertilize , trellis , and mulch this plant , it should do OK in your care .
permit ’s discuss the details of what chayote need from you when develop in your garden . To begin , it ’s advocate to water chayote deeply .
This requires you to water the works for longer periods of time , fewer Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of the calendar week . In watering your chayote this path , you ’re encouraging the industrial plant to produce stronger etymon systems .
As the days build , and the plant does n’t obtain any additional water , the roots will begin search for more moisture in the basis around them .
Therefore , they dig deeper and ultimately shape a stronger ancestor scheme . You ’ll sleep together it ’s clip to bring more water by testing the grime with your fingers .
Insert your finger into the filth around the chayote . If it ’s dampish to the first knuckle , it is n’t sentence to water again . If not , add more body of water .
After you get the knack of irrigate this plant , it ’s clip to discuss how to keep it fed .
Chayote plants should be fertilized one meter per month . midway through the growing season , you should also side dress your plants with more compost . This will ensure they have all they need to prosper during the growing time of year .
It ’s also important that you set a trellis behind your chayote . This is a vining plant which will straggle out and take up a batch of room if not contained .
Not to mention , if you leave chayote squelch resting on the ground , it could lead to rot . Therefore , it ’s saucy to apply a sturdy structure to support this plant . you could do this whether planted in a container or in the ground .
The last thing you must do to care for chayote is mulch . This is significant for two reasons . First , the mulch can help the industrial plant continue wet .
It can also protect it when the temperatures drop . For instance , if you survive in planting zona eight ( where chayote is a tender perennial ) it would be useful to incubate the plant with mulch to protect it from freezing during the cool portions of the year .
By taking these few steps , your chayote should be good for you for it . In turn , you should also receive a best harvest .
Garden Pests and Diseases Which Impact Chayote
Now that we know that chayote is an easy plant to deal for , it should thrill you even more that it does n’t have many enemy .
In fact , there are no disease which typically attack chayote . However , they are threatened by aphid . you’re able to process this pest with an insecticide .
It ’s also useful to spray your works , forcefully , with a water hosepipe . By remain on top of an aphid infestation , you ’re doing what ’s typically needed to keep your chayote works healthy and generative .
How to Harvest Chayote
The concluding step in raising chayote is harvesting . When the yield is approximately six inches wide , it might be approach the time of harvesting .
Press your fingernail into the skin , and if it feel tender , you ’re quick to begin harvest the fruit of the plant .
Do n’t pull the fruit from the vine . Instead , apply a tart tongue to polish off each squash and be sure to leave a small bow .
This will ensure you do n’t cut into the frame which should help oneself the chayote last longer once remove from the works .
Once you ’ve harvested the yield , it ’s significant to store them correctly . Chayote ca n’t care highly cold temperatures or it will damage your harvesting .
Instead , if you have a fridge that you could control the temperatures , set a portion of the gismo to be around 50 - degree Fahrenheit .
You should also store chayote in a seal off container or grip to keep the humidity levels up around the harvest .
By storing chayote squeeze using this method , they should last approximately thirty solar day from the clip of harvesting .
If you ’ve ever study raise chayote , you should now be fain to hear it . You have all the information require to produce the right growing conditions and care for mature plants as well .
Use this information to expand your culinary horizons . By growing a unique product in your garden , you could produce a plethora of delectable meals and potentially incur a new preferred food . Give it a attempt and add chayote to your garden the next raise season .
Learn More About Chayote
https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/vegetables/chayote/
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/vegetables/chayote.html
dawn to approach chayote.pdf
