Is anyone growing chayote on the ground?

8 years ago

I have a 5-gallon pot that had a tomato in it, but that didn't work out well. I planted some beans in it and created a trellis out of part of an old ladder and string. The beans all rotted with the rain, so I was looking for something else to grow in it. I know it's probably not strong enough for chayote vines, but I figure what the heck? I was worried about them going wild, but thought maybe the 5-gallon pot would restrict the roots. We'll see.

I was watching a video showing how you can eat the trimmings when you cut it back to keep it under control, since it is a member of the squash family, so that's good. I love squash leaves.

I was just wondering if I could let it wander on the ground a bit, since it's gourd. I don't know if the baby chayotes would rot or not, but Id' like to see how it does on the ground, so I'll probably let a couple of vines wander. Has anybody grown it on the ground?

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Comments (6)

Florida_Joe's_Z10a
8 years ago
The chayote I planted this year is in the ground, I didn't even amend the soil. It just kept growing and growing, even tryed flowering. But the squirrels kept eating all the leaves and shoots off of it. It would respond by just branching out but the squirrels here would right away eat any new growth so unfortunately it finally died back to within inches of the ground.

Today however I noticed a new shoot from the base. I'm thinking of letting it crawl along the ground this time until it reaches the passiflora to have it grow intermingled with the passiflora that the squirrels don't bother with. That's how I have to grow many things here, intermingled to confuse pests and make the plants less attractive to them.
dirtygardener
Original Author
8 years ago
It will take over and choke out your passiflora, so that may be a back idea. I don't mind if the squirrels take some of mine, but I'm going to try to keep it trimmed back, pretty drastically. I don't need 100 fruits!

I also read that you can pickle the fruits when they are about 2 in. in diameter, and there are uses for the medium sized ones too. I'd imagine the squirrels would love the small fruits.
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bossyvossy
8 years ago
No growing wisdom. Just want to add I love chayote boiled and lightly buttered.
Claudio Claudio
8 years ago
Chayote is great in Mexican caldo de olla (beef and veggie stew) my mom used to make.
Glenn Jones(9b)
8 years ago
I see no reason why you can't let it run on the ground and I would be interested in your results. but it will take over that area. I have spent this spring watch how one behaves in a food forest.my friend planted it to grow up a pine tree and the first spout did but now more is on the ground than in the tree and it seams to be doing fine. He brought me 3 chayote last week but I don't know if they are off the tree or ground.they were tastie. I just moved the one I sprouted into a 35 gallon pot. Its about 3 inches tall.
Florida_Joe's_Z10a
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Lol I doubt it. The passiflora seems invasive. It keeps sending out underground runners and popping up 10 feet away in every which direction. It only started doing this after being decimated by caterpillars.