Chayote growing techniques: What varieties are there? When is the best time to plant? How do you plant sprouted ones?

Chayote, also known as peng gua, shou gua, yang gua, he zhang gua and so on, is a common plant of the Cucurbitaceae family in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places. Because it carries a meaning of blessing and can be eaten both as a vegetable and as a fruit, it is deeply loved by people, and it is now planted in many areas. So what varieties of chayote are there? When is the best time to plant it? How do you plant it once it has sprouted?

1. What varieties of chayote are there?

Chayote comes in many varieties and can be divided by color into white-skinned types and green-skinned types, whose main characteristics are as follows:

1. Green-skinned chayote: the green-skinned type grows quickly, produces large fruit and has a high fruiting rate, but its quality is not very good and its flavor is a little bland, so it is not very popular, though it is still planted in some areas.

2. White-skinned chayote: the white-skinned type grows slowly and has a low fruiting rate, but its surface is smooth and thornless and its quality is better, so it is cultivated in many areas, with a relatively wide planting range in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xiangjiang and other places.

2. When is the best time to plant chayote?

Chayote is generally best planted in open fields in April to May, and is generally best planted in greenhouses around March, though the specific timing still needs to be decided according to local climatic conditions.

3. How do you plant chayote once it has sprouted?

1. Choosing the site: chayote does not have strong resistance and likes to grow in sandy soil with sufficient light, good permeability and good drainage, so when choosing a site, try to choose sandy soil or weakly clayey neutral loam with sufficient light and good drainage.

2. Sowing and raising seedlings:

(1) Deeply plowing the soil: before sowing the seeds, it is best to deeply plow the soil and scatter in a small amount of farmyard manure to increase the soil's fertility, then deeply plow again so that the soil's fertility is even. When deeply plowing, try to dig out a small ditch to make later drainage and irrigation easier.

(2) Sowing method: place the sprouted chayote into the soil hole, then slowly cover it with soil and water it lightly so it can grow freely.

3. Field management

(1) Fertilizing: chayote does not have high fertilizer requirements; generally fertilizing three times during the growing period is enough, with urea mainly used during the growth period, foliar fertilizer and farmyard manure mainly used during the flowering period, and boron fertilizer mainly used during the fruiting period, so when fertilizing, try to grasp the timing well.

(2) Watering: chayote has a relatively large water requirement, especially in high-temperature seasons, when the soil must be kept moist so that water is not evaporated, causing the vines and stems to stop growing and affecting the growth of the whole plant.

(3) Pruning: during the growing period, chayote will show the phenomenon of dense fruit, so according to the actual situation, poorly growing or relatively crowded gourds around it should be removed to balance nutrients, help the later growth and development of the gourds and increase yield.

4. Branch and leaf management

Chayote is a vine plant, so when it grows to 40cm, a triangular trellis should be used to fix it in place so it can climb and grow, reducing the occurrence of pests and diseases and increasing yield.

4. How much does chayote cost per jin on the market?

The market price of chayote is very affordable, generally around 1 to 2 yuan per jin, but due to differences in variety, quality, place of origin and market, there will also be certain differences in price. For example, chayote at the Zhejiang Shaoxing Vegetable and Fruit Wholesale Trading Center is 5 yuan/kg, and chayote at the Jiangsu Lingjiatang Agricultural and Sideline Products Wholesale Market is 2 yuan/kg, so the specific price still needs to be checked at the local market. Recent chayote market prices are as follows: