In article ,
Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...
I do not know if the UK knows they these exist but here goes, For three
years I have tried to grow chokos (chayote in America), In Australia
they usually grow rampant,down any fence across the dunny and take over,
but not for me.
I buy a few chokos from the supermarket that have started to sprout I
dig a hole fill with bag of potting mix and a bit of fertilizer, have
also tried in just dug up dirt, they all grow vines but no chokos, if I
knew anyone with chocos I might pinch a couple in case mine were
rendered sterile before sale, but I do not think they would bother,
The chances of getting a plant from an apparently-sprouting fruit do
not seem great. Few cucurbits propagate themselves that way. You
need a tuber or seed.
I can strongly recommend Trombinchino d'Albenga for the UK - it is a
FAR better alternative to courgette if you have the room, and remains
good up to at least 1 Kg in weight. It's actually a relative of
butternut.
Not remotely like chokos, try and find one,peel it and cut out round
seed cut into quarters,boil,And eat with a sliver of butter on the fork.
Looks intriguing. Are you growing it out of doors, Nick, how much
shelter/heat/time does it need to make a fruit that size?
If you mean the Trombinchino d'Albenga, no more than ripening C. pepo
varieties - the problem with C. moschata (and C. maxima) is not the
growing, but the ripening. Start it indoors, if you can, and plant
out with other cucurbits. Its rate of growth is very dependent on
sun and warmth, not surprisingly, but fruits can swell from flower
buds to 1 Kg in a couple of weeks. We usually eat them younger, if
we catch them in time!
The fruits aren't terribly keen on soggy conditions, so you will need
to let some wind through them, and they won't work every year. They
do here, but we are much drier. The flowers are also large, and very
good in omelettes etc. And it ramps worse than C. maxima!
I might try chayote, but it looks very tricky in a limited space.
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.