Growing Chayote / Mirliton Squash

So from time to time I run across something new for me in the gardening world and I get completely fascinated by it. This year’s novelty is chayote or mirliton squash. A friend of mine asked me about growing mirliton a few years ago and I had to admit I had no idea what it was. She is originally from Louisiana where this vegetable is a staple, but not widely used by native Texans. It is also popular in different parts of Mexico, where it is known as chayote. It’s beloved in both cultures and therefore prompted my curiosity so that I can help my clients who call Louisiana or Mexico home, grow something that reminds them of childhood.



The good thing is chayote loves heat so it is perfectly suited to our climate. It is usually planted in early spring after danger of frost; however, I am planting now to try to get a harvest before frost. It takes about 120 to 150 days to harvest, so July planting should give me an October harvest which is well before frost here. Here is what I’ve learned about the unusual process of growing chayote so far.


What makes it so fascinating is that the whole vegetable is considered the seed. In order for the vigorous vine to grow, you plant the whole thing. So no need to search through catalogs for anything, just run to the grocery store and buy a couple of squash. Pick ones that have a few wrinkles because that means they’re mature. Hopefully you can find one where the end is starting to split and a bit of vine is poking through.



There’s two ways to get the vines started. You can simply leave the squash on a window seal and wait for the bottom to begin to open up and the vine to start poking through. This is the other cool thing. When the bottom starts to widen and the vine starts growing, it looks like some kind of alien being. The down side to this method is that sometimes the squash will rot before a good vine gets growing. Alternately, you can just plant it in some well-draining, composted soil to get the plant to emerge. To do this, plant the squash at an angle with fat end up since this is where the vine will emerge with the tip sticking out of the soil just a bit. This would be the same method for planting if you’ve already let the vine emerge. Water it and wait for the vine and roots begin to grow before watering again because the water in the vegetable is enough to sustain it. The warmer the weather the faster they grow.

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