The exotic vegetable Mexican cucumber has already adapted to the gardens of Russian gardeners and gardeners. It is not only tasty, but also healthy - it contains a large amount of vitamins and microelements. What kind of vegetable is this and how to grow it, we will find out further.
Description of the fruit and bush
Perennial plant of the pumpkin family. Brought and adapted to our climate zone from Central America. But now it is grown all over the world. The fruit of the Mexican cucumber looks like a pear.Inside the vegetable has juicy pulp, the taste is reminiscent of ordinary zucchini.
It is grown in the Black Sea region and in the Krasnodar region. Georgia is also famous for these fruits. The plants look like vines or vines of cucumbers, which may be why Chayote is called the Mexican cucumber. When grown, the vines reach a length of up to 20 meters; as they grow, long tendrils appear on the vines, with which the vine clings to hedges and grows. The leaves are round and reach 10–25 centimeters in width; pubescence with bristles is visible on the surface.
Flowers of female and male type, cream color. Flowering lasts 3 months - from July to September, and the fruits are collected until December, as they are well preserved in cool weather. You should not leave vegetables in the garden if frost is expected.
Unlike ordinary plants, two harvests are harvested from Chayote - the above-ground and underground parts. Potato-like tubers form in the ground and taste like potatoes or cucumbers. Up to 10 kilograms are dug from one bush. The color is light green or yellow; up to 80 pear-shaped vegetables are harvested from a bush at the age of five years. In this case, the weight of one vegetable reaches 1 kilogram.
The above-ground part of the vine produces fruits that are similar in appearance to a pear with a zucchini flavor. Many first and second courses and side dishes are prepared from them. This vegetable is also often used to treat diseases.
Use of fruits in cooking
Almost all parts of the plant, except the stem, are used to prepare various dishes. Various salads are prepared from the leaves; the tubers are used to make pancakes or ground into flour, as they contain a large amount of starch.Thus, the shelf life of tubers is much shorter than that of above-ground fruits, so the tubers are dried and ground into flour for dietary nutrition.
Above-ground fruits are stewed, fried, added to soups and pickled. The taste of Chayote goes well with tomatoes, so these two vegetables are often stewed together and used as a side dish for meat dishes. Sauces, sautés and stews are prepared from Chayote.
Young shoots are used in cooking, like asparagus, and the dried stems are used instead of rope.
Use of the plant for medicinal purposes
Tubers are used in medicine for their diuretic effect; nutritionists recommend them for cardiovascular diseases.
Leaves are used to treat:
- gastrointestinal tract;
- removing kidney stones;
- hypertension.
- atherosclerosis.
They are prepared as follows: pour boiling water and infuse.
Cucumbers are used to treat:
- thyroid gland;
- ulcers;
- hemorrhoids;
- pancreatitis;
- constipation;
- mastopathy;
- oncological diseases.
Useful substances included in the composition
The fruits contain microelements such as potassium, iron, zinc, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, manganese, selenium. It also contains vitamins A, PP, C, E, H, K, and B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9. The composition also includes the following amino acids: valine, leucine, arginine, threonine.
Growing Chayote
The ripening period from planting to ripening is 200 days. In central Russia, cultivation is carried out in greenhouses; in open areas they are planted as an ornamental plant, because vegetables do not have time to ripen. In the southern region, the plant is considered a perennial and is grown in one place for up to 20 years. Chayote seedlings love fertile soil, so before planting the soil is fertilized with organic and mineral fertilizers.Usually the soil is prepared in the fall.
Preparing and planting seeds
The vegetable contains one large finger-sized seed. When stored outdoors, the seed quickly becomes weathered and loses its ability to germinate. Therefore, fruit seeds are stored until planting, wrapped in damp gauze in the refrigerator. You can plant the whole fruit containing the seed. The temperature for germination should not fall below 20 degrees, the ripening period is 6-7 months. Therefore, plants are grown in seedlings, the seeds are planted in a warm room in boxes with fertilized soil in February.
Before germination, cover with film, and then remove it and place the boxes in a sunny place. When shoots germinate, 2-3 shoots are left in the box, the rest are cut off and germinated in the usual way.
Transplantation is carried out when a stable temperature of 20 degrees in the greenhouse occurs. When planting vegetables without seedlings, in May they dig into the soil of the greenhouse with the wide part downwards at an angle. In this case, a third should remain on the surface. Planting is carried out at a distance of 1 square meter.
Plant care
When the vine reaches a length of 80 centimeters, the shoots are pinched, leaving 2-3 shoots on the sides. Since the cucumber is a creeping plant, it is allowed along the trellis. It is usually placed on top of the greenhouse. This plant blooms at the same time - when the daylight hours are less than 12 hours, our gardeners are experimenting, artificially prolonging the period of flowering and fruit set. To do this, the greenhouse is covered with light-blocking material.
This bush is demanding when it comes to watering; the soil must be kept moist at all times, otherwise the ripening of the fruit will be delayed. After watering, the soil around the stem is loosened, thereby ridding the soil of fungus and other diseases.Also to retain moisture in the soil. The ground must not be allowed to freeze, otherwise the plant will die.
Harvesting
Vegetables are ready to harvest when the skin appears shiny and the fruit turns light green. The collection must be completed before the onset of frost, since frozen vegetables cannot be stored and lose their nutritional value.
They also dig up underground fruits and use them in one of the described ways. It is not recommended to store them, since the shelf life of these fruits is short.
Reviews
This vegetable is grown in Russia not only for its fruits, but also as an ornamental plant. Since vines look very beautiful around the gazebo and protect from direct sunlight. Therefore, gardeners have left many reviews about growing this exotic vegetable.
Alexander: “I grow this plant in open ground. It mainly performs a decorative function. The fruits do not have time to ripen, since cold weather sets in in November, and the ovaries appear on the plant in August. I plant them every year; in our climate, the root system does not tolerate wintering and rots. The rest of the care is usual, watering, weeding, fertilizing. If grown in a greenhouse, the harvest will be rich. Up to 50 kilograms of useful vegetables are harvested from one plant.”
Marina: “I have health problems, a friend recommended eating Chayote fruits as food to cleanse the body of harmful substances and restore blood pressure. At first I bought fruits at the market, and then I decided to grow them myself. After all, the plant can grow well even on a windowsill. Health has improved, atherosclerotic plaques have decreased. “I even stopped taking strong medications for blood pressure, reducing the dosage of the drug.”
