5. Good Organic Gardening - September-October 2016 AvxHome.in

choko | TIME TO PLANT
neighbour giving away fruit in autumn.
Save a mature fruit to plant as your own
vine. Plant by placing the fruit into the ground,
leaving the pointed tip exposed, as this is
where the new shoot appears. The roots
emerge from the base. If you keep one long
enough in the fruit bowl it will start to shoot.
Alternatively, start it off in a large pot
(20–25cm across) in autumn and protect the
emerging shoot from frost. Chokos can also
be grown from tip cuttings taken in spring
from established vines.
The vines take four to five months to begin
to produce fruit. As with other cucurbits
such as pumpkins and zucchini, chokos have
separate male and female flowers on the same
vine and the female flowers produce fruit.
Troubleshooting
Little can go wrong with a choko. Most vines
fruit prolifically, particularly when growing in
good soil with full sun and plenty of water. If fruit
is scarce, it may be being eaten by nocturnal
visitors such as possums and rats. Vines are
killed off by frost, so in cold regions select a
frost-free position to extend the harvest.
Harvesting &
storing
The larger the choko, the harder it is to
prepare, so harvest chokos while they are
young and smooth and around 7–10cm long.
Chokos produce a sticky sap when peeled.
This sap can be a skin irritant, so handle them
carefully or wear gloves.
Like the rabbit, the choko served as
a handy food during tough times
such as the Depression of the 1930s.
Let it shoot before planting
Chook food
Don’t waste unwanted chokos. If they
can’t be given away, boil them up as food
for chooks. Boiled until soft, they make
a welcome warm mash for backyard
poultry in autumn and early winter.
Choko label
Common names: Choko, chayote
Botanical name: Sechium edule
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Aspect and soil: Sun; deep,
well-drained soil
Best climate: Temperate to tropical
Habit: Spreading vine
Propagation: Seed
Difficulty: Easy
Traditionally they’ve been grown
over fences, sheds or chookhouses
Good Organic Gardening | 45