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,
.. Any ideas?

Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 27 Aug 2018 17:29:14 +1000, FMurtz
wrote:

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,
. Any ideas?

Never heard of it, but I assume you've googled for suggestions. There
seems to be plenty of advice out there. https://tinyurl.com/y96du98w
and https://tinyurl.com/yb58p3h6 Do your plants even flower?

With some cucurbits, the sex of the flowers is temperature dependent.
https://tinyurl.com/y8xlk3nx

If you get flowers of both sexes, do you ensure the females get
pollinated, either by insects or by you with a paint brush or rabbit's
tail? The female flowers have a tiny bulge at the base, the incipient
fruit that will grow when the flower is pollinated.

No flowers just vines.

On 27/08/2018 09:01, FMurtz wrote:
Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 27 Aug 2018 17:29:14 +1000, FMurtz
wrote:

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,
. Any ideas?

Never heard of it, but I assume you've googled for suggestions. There
seems to be plenty of advice out there. https://tinyurl.com/y96du98w
and https://tinyurl.com/yb58p3h6 Do your plants even flower?

With some cucurbits, the sex of the flowers is temperature dependent.
https://tinyurl.com/y8xlk3nx

If you get flowers of both sexes, do you ensure the females get
pollinated, either by insects or by you with a paint brush or rabbit's
tail? The female flowers have a tiny bulge at the base, the incipient
fruit that will grow when the flower is pollinated.

No flowers just vines.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com

I have bought these a couple of times in Malta in the winter when I have
found them with the seed already sprouting and growing out of the fruit.
Whilst I have got them to grow under glass I have never got them to
produce any fruit.
I have a feeling that you are writing from the US, am I right?
As they originate in central America I would have thought you would be
better placed to get fresh fruit than here in the UK where I suspect the
only place would be an Asian supermarket.

David Hill wrote:
On 27/08/2018 09:01, FMurtz wrote:
Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 27 Aug 2018 17:29:14 +1000, FMurtz
wrote:

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,
.Â* Any ideas?

Never heard of it, but I assume you've googled for suggestions. There
seems to be plenty of advice out there. https://tinyurl.com/y96du98w
and https://tinyurl.com/yb58p3h6 Do your plants even flower?

With some cucurbits, the sex of the flowers is temperature dependent.
https://tinyurl.com/y8xlk3nx

If you get flowers of both sexes, do you ensure the females get
pollinated, either by insects or by you with a paint brush or rabbit's
tail? The female flowers have a tiny bulge at the base, the incipient
fruit that will grow when the flower is pollinated.

No flowers just vines.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com

I have bought these a couple of times in Malta in the winter when I have
found them with the seed already sprouting and growing out of the fruit.
Whilst I have got them to grow under glass I have never got them to
produce any fruit.
I have a feeling that you are writing from the US, am I right?
As they originate in central America I would have thought you would be
better placed to get fresh fruit than here in the UK where I suspect the
only place would be an Asian supermarket.



Australia, where they normally grow like weeds and are hard to stop,
except for me.

Not all shops sell them as they are so common in everyone elses garden,
although I do not know many neighbors or I would pinch them.

In article ,
FMurtz wrote:

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.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Nick Maclaren wrote:

The chances of getting a plant from an apparently-sprouting fruit do
not seem great. Few cucurbits propagate themselves that way.

Boggle. Apparently, they do.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
FMurtz wrote:

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.



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
FMurtz wrote:

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.

I may, but I doubt they are available where I live. I am put off
growing them by references like this:

https://www.hunker.com/12600152/how-...ayote-in-a-pot

30' before they fruit? That's way over the fence and into the
neighbour's! Also, 150 growing days is tricky, though it's not
the frosts that are the limits.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 27 Aug 2018 17:29, FMurtz wrote:
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,
. Any ideas?


Having read a little on them I'm wondering if they fruit better after a
years growing and a winters dormancy, so in their second year.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden

In article ,
says...

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
FMurtz wrote:

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?

Janet.

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.