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Chayote

Sechium edule

Chayote is a vigorous perennial vine in the squash family, grown for its pale green, pear-shaped fruit with one soft seed. The fruit is mild and crisp, good raw or cooked, and a healthy vine bears heavily. It's also called mirliton, christophene and vegetable pear.

Growing facts

Scientific name
Sechium edule
Origin
Southern Mexico and Guatemala
Plant size
Vine that can run 50 ft; grow it over a sturdy arbor or trellis about 6 ft tall
Growth rate
Fast
Sun
Full sun or part shade
Soil
Fertile, well-drained soil; it can't stand water sitting around the roots, so use a raised bed or hill where it's wet. Roots are shallow, so water during dry spells.
Soil pH
5.5–7.0 is best; tolerates about 4.3–8.0
Pollination
Separate male and female flowers on the same vine; bees and wasps carry the pollen, and without them fruit won't set
Cold hardiness
No frost tolerance; grows best with days of 66–86°F and nights above 60°F, and suffers below about 54°F
USDA zones
Perennial in frost-free areas (zones 10–11); elsewhere it's often killed back or replanted
Harvest
Flowers 1–2 months after sprouting once days are about 12 hours long; fruit is ready about 35 days after pollination
When to plant (zones 9–11)
Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct
Water
About every 3 days once established, without rain; more in heat, in pots and while young
Feeding
About every 60 days
Taste
Mild and fresh, somewhere between cucumber and summer squash; crisp raw, tender cooked
Nutrition
Very low in calories, with some vitamin C, calcium and potassium

Is chayote safe to eat? Edible and toxic parts

What you can eat

  • Fruit, raw or cooked
  • Young leaves and shoot tips, cooked like spinach or asparagus
  • The single seed, cooked

Toxic parts and cautions

  • Good to know: Peeling raw chayote leaves a sticky sap on the hands that bothers some people's skin; gloves or peeling under running water help.
  • Good to know: Spider mites are a major pest in dry weather, and root-knot nematodes attack the roots. Pull vines after the last harvest so disease doesn't carry over.

Pets: No reliable data on toxicity for dogs, cats or other pets.

How to eat and enjoy chayote

  • Thin-sliced raw in salads and slaws
  • Stir-fried, curried or stewed
  • Stuffed and baked, as in Louisiana mirliton dishes
  • Pickled
  • Young shoots stir-fried with garlic

When it's ripe

Pick fruit about a month after the flowers are pollinated, while the skin is still smooth and tender, at roughly 4–6 inches across and half a pound to a pound. Harvest in the cool of the morning.

Storing it

Wrap fruit loosely and keep it at 45–55°F, where it holds for a few weeks. Colder than about 45°F chill-damages it, and above about 78°F it starts to sprout. To start a new vine, plant a whole mature fruit, sprout end angled down, in early spring.

Pests and diseases to watch for

  • Scale insects

    Small bumps, waxy or shell-like, on stems and leaf veins; sticky honeydew and black sooty mold below.

    What to do: Scrub small colonies off with a soft brush.

  • Mealybugs

    White cottony clusters in leaf joints, under leaves and on fruit stems; honeydew and sooty mold.

    What to do: Blast off with a strong spray of water.

  • Aphids

    Clusters of tiny soft insects on new shoots; leaves curl and get sticky.

    What to do: Spray off with water.

  • Sooty mold

    Black, papery film on leaves and fruit that wipes off; it grows on honeydew.

    What to do: Control the insects making honeydew; the mold then weathers away.

  • Spider mites

    Fine pale speckling on leaves, dusty undersides and fine webbing; leaves bronze and drop.

    What to do: Hose the undersides of leaves.

Growing chayotes? Let Yardkin keep track.

Yardkin tells you when your chayote needs water based on your local weather, reminds you to feed and prune in season, and keeps every harvest and photo.

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General guidance, not medical or veterinary advice. Poison Control (US): 1-800-222-1222. ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435.