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The Smoking Gun: Diagnosing Anthracnose

by Lance Hill | Jun 28, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Lesion with salmon-colored fruiting bodies (acervuli)

Tim Dill recently posted a photo of his mirliton vine that looked like it was on its last leg. Many people weighed in on what they thought the problem was: squash vine borers, insufficient fertilizer, drainage, and plant disease. However, the long view of his vine did not provide enough information to diagnose the problem, so we requested close-ups of the vine, and Tim delivered.

The photo clearly shows the early stages of anthracnose. This is what is known as a lesion, and the black spots are referred to as “fruiting bodies” (acervuli), which contain spores that spread the disease. The fruiting bodies start as salmon-colored dots and then turn black as the disease progresses. Additionally, small gummy drops of exudate will eventually appear, and the stem will split open. The leaves will have yellow wedges, and in the final stages, they will develop “rifle shot holes” in the brown, dead tissue. That’s because the fungal pathogen that causes anthracnose is necrotrophic, meaning that after it kills the plant cells, it can feed on dead tissue as well.

Tim’s problem was not caused by too much or too little water, too much sun, or insufficient fertilizer. And all the remedies for those causes would not have helped and probably would have done more harm.

So the first question we should always ask is for good close-up photos of the leaves and stems. Most smartphones can take a photo that can be magnified if needed. Videos are better than nothing, but only photos permit a close examination of the leaf and stem symptoms.

You can learn how to diagnose anthracnose for yourself and others by viewing this photo album of anthracnose signs (click on the first photo in the series to enlarge the images).

https://www.mirliton.org/photo/anthracnose-damage-to-mirliton-plant-parts/

We used to never see anthracnose this early in the season. However, the periodic rains and warm nights create a perfect storm for the fungus; it thrives in the nighttime heat, and then rainfall ruptures the fruiting body, splashing the spores throughout the plant during the day (or top-down watering).

There’s no cure for anthracnose once it takes hold. Daconil is often prescribed for anthracnose, but it is not a fungicide and can’t kill the fungus that causes anthracnose; it simply coats the plant with a film that makes it more difficult for the fungus to attach to the stem and leaves. It’s a preventative, not an eradicant, and would have to be applied from the time the vine was planted and throughout the season.

We are testing a new biofungicide, Timorex Act, and will report on our findings when the trials are complete.

The good news is that normally, the vine will recover from an attack and produce in the fall–and will have acquired natural resistance to the disease.

Advanced lesion with black fruting bodies (acervuli)

Lesion with salmon-colored fruiting bodies (acervuli)

Gummy edudate.

Perfect example of anthracnose wedge-shaped sign on leaves–including the “rifle shot” hole. The fungus first feeds on living tissue, and then lives on dead tissue.

Alternaria Leaf Blight in Mirlitons

by Lance Hill | Jun 26, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Alternaria Leaf Blight

Alternaria leaf blight in mirlitons, caused by the fungus Alternaria alternata, occasionally occurs in the U.S.A. The disease manifests as yellow, irregular spots that appear on leaves, often with a brown center. It’s often a secondary infection when the vine becomes stressed and weakened by excessive rains. It frequently affects new mirlitons in the early stages of growth.

Since it primarily affects leaves, it is not lethal and the vine will survive, but it can reduce the canopy.

It’s a waterborne fungus, so rain and overhead watering will spread it. Avoid overhead irrigation and remove and destroy infected plant material promptly to reduce the source of inoculum.

Eat’em–Just Don’t Plant’em! Why Grocery Store Mirlitons (chayote) Shouldn’t Be Used as Seed.

by Lance Hill | May 12, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

By Lance Hill and Kevin De Santiago

Many people want to grow their own mirliton (chayote) vine but find it difficult to find locally grown mirlitons. Because of their frustration, some people try to grow mirlitons by purchasing and planting one from the produce department in a grocery store. There are two reasons why this is not ideal.

First, all mirlitons sold in grocery stores and markets are imported varieties. They are grown and imported only as produce, just like all the other vegetables that you purchase. The USDA tried to grow these varieties a century ago and concluded that high-altitude plants have tremendous difficulty growing in low altitudes. This is because these varieties have adapted to the altitude, pests, diseases, and ultraviolet exposure in their native environment. The patterns of light and temperatures influence when and if the variety will flower and fruit. Moreover, an imported variety may not have acquired resistance to diseases or disease pressures that occur in its new environment.

All imported mirlitons will sprout and send up a shoot, but most imported mirlitons will not flower and set fruit. We have received reports of this problem from hundreds of growers over the years, and I had the same disappointing experience when I tried to use imported mirlitons to grow a vine.

Second, even if you could grow an imported mirliton, you may introduce new diseases that have devastated mirlitons elsewhere. Local mirliton varieties that are adapted to conditions in the U.S. have been grown for over two centuries in Louisiana and California. These were originally brought from low-altitude coastal areas in the Caribbean and Central America. In horticulture, these local varieties are called landraces— cultivars that growers have improved by traditional agricultural methods. The Louisiana heirloom mirliton is the U.S. mirliton landrace that has adapted to the regional climate, diseases, and pests through generations of trial and error. They are a reliable and healthy variety.

But they are vulnerable to new diseases from imported chayote sold as produce in grocery stores. Although no new mirliton diseases have been discovered in the U.S.A., it’s a widespread problem with other imported seeds, such as Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) in tomatoes. The recently discovered Chayote Mosaic Virus (CMV) can be transmitted inside infected mirliton fruit without any sign of infection (seedborne and sapborne diseases). If you purchase infected imported mirlitons that carry the disease and then plant them, you may spread the disease to the Louisiana heirloom mirlitons. There is no cure for CMV, and you can potentially destroy all U.S. varieties. Read about CMV here.

In Brazil, scientists have recently discovered new fungi that cause anthracnose disease in mirlitons–also another soilborne and sapborne disease that can be spread through imported chayote. Read about it here.

To summarize: Imported mirlitons may not grow and fruit in the U.S., and if they do, they may have disastrous consequences for U.S. mirlitons landraces. It is best to wait until you find one of the Certified Louisiana Heirloom Mirlitons available on Mirliton.Org.

Where Should I Plant My Mirliton to Get the Ideal Amount of Sunlight?

by Lance Hill | May 4, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Where Should I Plant My Mirliton to Get the Ideal Amount of Sunlight?

The answer: Just about anywhere.

Mirlitons can be initially planted in partial shade or full sun. If planted in a well-shaded area, they will naturally send out shoots to the greatest amount of light. They are “sunseekers” in the sense that they will always grow from shade to full light. You can plant them in partial shade, and as long as the trellis guides them toward more sun, they will follow that.

They can also be planted in full sun. But under the new weather conditions of heat domes and intense heatwaves, we have found that it is absolutely necessary to use a 40% shade cloth, especially when the temperature is excessively high — 95℉ for several successive days. That is why we advise growers to always build a structure along with the trellis where they can quickly and easily mount a shade cloth.

Many growers use shade cloths throughout the growing season. While I don’t think it’s necessary to use them when the temperatures are in the low 90s, it may not hurt. But there are two downsides to using a shade cloth too early in the season. (1) It reduces the amount of light necessary for photosynthesis, which provides the vine with energy and drives new growth–particularly for a young vine. And (2) shade cloths reduce the amount of ultraviolet light, which is a natural fungicide and helps combat fungal diseases.

Bottom Line: You can start your mirliton in almost any available lighting. Just plan to protect it from too much light. Build a structure along with the trellis so they can quickly and easily mount a shade cloth, which can also double as a rain guard during excessive rainfall.

Angela Joan’s shade cloth draped over the vine, supported by poles.

Thumbnail Test for Mirliton Ripeness

by Lance Hill | Apr 28, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Tedra Erikson Stanley performing the thumbnail test.

Mirlitons are typically ready to harvest when they reach approximately 8 ounces, although size and weight can vary. The most reliable method for testing for harvesting is the thumbnail test.

Start by pushing on the fruit skin with your thumbnail. If the fruit skin dents or even seeps a little moisture, the fruit is still immature and will be too watery. If it is firm and does not dent, you are ready to pick. The old growers used to say, “My mirlitons are hard now and ready to pick.”

See Tedra Stanley’s video on how to do the test here.

At the hard stage, they are also mature enough to sprout and or use as seed. But once they begin to sprout, they’re too tough to cook.

How Can I Plant Spring Mirlitons?

by Lance Hill | Apr 23, 2025 | How To, Mirliton, Uncategorized

The spring harvest of mirlitons has increased in recent years due to advancements in growing techniques. The question is: How do we plant them?

There are two options: container-grown plants or planting them directly in the soil.

First, in either case, the fruit needs to be spouted. This ensures the seed is viable, and a sprouted mirliton means the roots and shoots are ready for soil and will quickly root and grow. You can expedite sprouting by incubating the fruit. If kept warm, they will sprout within 7 to 14 days. Read how to do it here. (We encourage growers to also incubate their sprouts before selling or gifting them, for the same reasons.)

Once the seed has sprouted:

Container planting: Plant it in a 3-gallon container and keep it outside in the shade for the summer. Use a small tomato cage for a trellis. Mirlitons can be easily pruned back to maintain a compact shape if desired. Transplant them into the ground in September, after the danger of the heatwave has passed. Cut it back and mulch it in November, or tent and heat it for the entire winter. Either way, you’ll get a good spring crop. Use the bamboo stake technique for gauging watering needs.

Mirlitons trellised on tomato cages.

Direct planting: This is a little more tricky. You can plant sprouts in May or June, but they will need to be initially shaded from the heat of direct sunlight. Place a milk crate over the plant, covering it with a 40% shade cloth or a piece of cardboard to protect it from the sun’s rays. After it starts to grow foliage, remove the crate and shade. Read about shading it here. Use the standard methods for bed preparation in the quick guide

How to test compost and manure for herbicide residue

by Lance Hill | Mar 27, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Many gardeners attribute plant failure to manure or compost that may have been contaminated with Grazon or other herbicides. A professional laboratory test is too expensive for the average gardener, but there is a simple, inexpensive test you can do at home. You can do it before using the compost or manure, or after you have already planted:

Managing Spider Mites and Mealybugs

by Lance Hill | Mar 21, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Female red spider mite.

Mealybug and nest.

Spider mites and mealybugs tend to plague mirlitons that are planted in containers, especially when kept indoors during overwintering.

You can manage mealybugs by soaking a cotton swab with 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol and dabbing it directly on the bugs. Alternatively, you can dilute the alcohol with water at a 1:10 ratio (one part alcohol to 10 parts water) and spray it on both the top and bottom of the leaves. (Sevin claims to control mealybugs, but there’s evidence that it is not as effective as alcohol.) If you are spraying the solution on an established plant outside, do a patch test first to ensure that the alcohol won’t harm the leaves (spray only a few leaves and then check the next day). Additionally, spray the plant in the evening.

If the mites are on a seed, sprout, or container plant that you are keeping inside or not in direct sun, you can dust it with “flowable sulfur.” It’s very effective, but it can damage the sprout/plant if applied outside in direct sunlight or heat, so be cautious with it.

Mites can be controlled with the same alcohol spray, neem oil, or insecticidal soap (follow the instructions on the label).

Sprays will only kill the living mites, so you may need to repeat the spraying process weekly for a few weeks.

Red spider mite clusters.

Click here for a short fact sheet on how to identify signs of mites.

Click here for a fact sheet on mealybugs.

Secure Your Vine From Winds and Hurricanes With Netting

by Lance Hill | Mar 17, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Strong winds and hurricanes can shred a mirliton vine and stress it enough to delay or even stop flowering.

Michelle Impastato Glore discovered an ingenious way to inexpensively and quickly protect the vine from winds: netting. It’s the most effective way to protect your vines from wind damage–even in hurricane winds.

With young plants, she sandwiches them between two layers of netting and secures it to the trellis on both sides with clips. She pushes the tips of the clips through both sides so they hold the vine snugly but not so tightly that it breaks the stems.

To protect her large, mature vine, she wraps the entire vine with netting on both sides and secures it with velcro and or plastic tape.

Both vines survived gusts of 20 mph, and the large vine should have sustained gusts up to 70 mph.

The netting comes in many sizes at Tractor Supply and other stores, including this large roll for big vines.

Watch the video here of Michelle’s vine after 70 mph gusts. The vine had grown through the netting, so she had to cut holes in it before removing it.

New plant sandwiched in with netting clipped to trellis.

Netting wrapped around large vine.

Garden netting.

Quick Guide for Growing Mirlitons

by Lance Hill | Mar 8, 2025 | How To, Mirliton

Mirliton is the Haitian-French word for the Louisiana chayote (Sechium edule) vine that originated in Mexico and Central America. Haitians brought it to Louisiana in the 19th century, and it evolved over 200 years, adapting to the climate, altitude, and diseases. It’s a self-pollinating climbing vine that makes both male and female flowers on the same vine.

How to Grow It:

1. Choose the right seed
Mirliton seeds can’t be dried and saved, like tomatoes and grains. The entire fruit must be planted. We recommend that you use only certified Louisiana Heirlooms for two reasons. First, Louisiana heirlooms grow and produce well in our climate and are naturally resistant to most diseases. Second, imported chayote–sold at grocery stores and online–are not screened for diseases and can introduce new diseases that could eventually destroy our heirloom variety. Avoid uncertified seeds and plants sold at nurseries, farmers’ markets, and roadside stands.

Read about imported chayote here.

Find a list of Certified Mirlitons here.

2. Sprout It.
Place the seed in a warm place, such as on top of the refrigerator, until it sprouts a stem. If it does not sprout within a few weeks, here is an easy way to speed up the process.

3. Container-Plant it:
Once the seed sprouts, we recommend overwintering it in a 3-gallon container. This will help it develop a good rootball for transplanting and help you get an additional crop in the spring. Mirlitons need 110 days after planting to set fruit, and by container planting it in December, it may set fruit in May. Find everything about sprouting, container-planting, and watering a new seed here.

4. Choose a Plant Site:
Select a well-drained area away from roofs for your plant site. Mirlitons don’t grow well in saturated soil–it can even kill a new plant. Till up a 4’ x 4’ patch to plant in. If you have poor or clay soil, dig a pit 2’x2’x18” and fill it with a mix of garden soil, compost, and manure to give the vine a good start. Mound a small hill of soil on top of the pit in which to plant the mirliton (so it drains well). The planting site does not have full sun because mirlitons are “sun seekers” and will grow along the trellis until they find sunlight. Here’s how to prepare the planting site, and here’s why you can initially plant in shade or full sun.

If you don’t have a well-drained area, you will need to build a large, deep, raised bed.

Here’s how to build a bed that drains quickly and keeps the correct soil moisture.

5. Build a Trellis:
Build an overhead trellis that allows you to both shade and frost-protect the vine. The trellis material must be the correct gauge and mesh. Mirlitons will climb almost anything, but a proper trellis makes protecting and harvesting easy. Read here how to select the appropriate trellis material. Make sure the trellis has a structure that will support a shade cloth or tarp when needed (PVC hoop or wooden frame).

6. Shade it:
Buy a shade cloth before you even plant. The last several summers have taught us that mirlitons can die in intense heat waves without a shade cloth–especially with a first-year vine. You may need a shade cloth starting as early as July. They are inexpensive and last for years. Read about them here.

7. Transplant it:
If you don’t want a spring crop, transplant your container plant into your ground site or raised bed in April after the threat of frost. If you want a spring crop, you need to transplant in the first week of March. Be prepared to cover it with a bucket or tarp in case of a frost.

8. Fertilize It:
Any balanced (8-8-8) chemical fertilizer will work, but slow-release fertilizers such as manure work best. Fertilize with a couple of tablespoons when you first plant and then once a month as needed. As long as the vine is green and growing, it’s fine. Don’t fertilize after July, or it will disrupt flowering. Read about fertilizing here.

9. Water It:
Water it at the ground level–overhead watering spreads plant diseases downwards. Mirlitons don’t need much watering in the spring, and that’s the time most people are likely to over-water. The simplest way to prevent over-watering is to use a soil sampler. The inexpensive device will also tell you if your soil is too dry during a heatwave or drought. Set up a regular watering schedule throughout the summer. Once the vine gets going, the mirliton leaves will indicate whether it has adequate moisture. This process is known as guttation, and you can learn how to read the leaves here. Read the basics of watering mirlitons here.

10. Scout It Daily:
The summer months should be a steady routine. Scout the vine daily for pests and disease.

11. Protect it from winds and Hurricanes:
Strong winds can batter a vine and disrupt flowering and fruiting. The most effective way to minimize wind damage is with netting, like here. You can also weave the vine into the trellis like here.

12. Protect it from diseases:
Two primary diseases affect mirlitons: powdery mildew (PM) and anthracnose. Powdery mildew is usually seen in the spring. It’s easy to identify and can be eradicated by spraying the vine with potassium bicarbonate, an organic fungicide. Read how here. The main summer disease is anthracnose. Fungicides are ineffective against anthracnose. But the good news is that anthracnose normally recovers by the fall. In addition, each time the vine gets anthracnose, it acquires more natural immunity to the disease. Read about how to identify anthracnose here and here. (Additionally, see “Alternaia Leaf Spot” below) You can also submit photographs of plant symptoms to the Facebook group for help identifying and managing the diseases.

13. Protect it from Pests:
There are three main insect and animal pests. Read about how to manage them at these links: Vine borers. Stink bugs. Squirrels.
You can submit photographs of insects to the Facebook group for help identifying them.

14. Protect it from Frost and Freezes:
Mirlitons are “cold-sensitive” plants that can get damaged and frostbitten if the temperature drops below 42°. Sprinklers can protect against most frosts and extend the growing season into December. Read how here. Simply covering the vine with a tarp will also protect against most cold weather. But, the most reliable and effective protection against cold damage is temporarily tenting and heating the vine when needed. Growers who did this during the 6° freeze in 2025 saved their vines and harvested mirlitons all through the winter. All it takes is a tarp and a small heater. Read how to do it here.

15. Flowering and Fruiting:
Mirlitons are photoperiodic, which means the length of the day stimulates flowering. That occurs during the spring and fall equinoxes in March and September. It may take a few weeks after the equinox for flowering to start, and a cold snap will help. Once the female flowers are pollinated, the fruit will mature within two to three weeks. If you don’t see bees pollinating, you may have to hand-pollinate–see how to do it here.

16. Cut back or Not Cut back the Vine?
In the past, the tradition was to cut back the vines at the end of the fall harvest. We don’t recommend doing that now because the weather patterns—increased summer waves and fall hurricanes—have often ruined the fall crop. Instead, we recommend extending the growing season for several months by temporarily tenting and heating the vine after the fall. If you temporarily tent your vine, you can grow mirlitons through January before having to cut it back. Read how here.

Additional “How-To” Links:

Growing mirlitons in a cloth gro-bag

How to prune back a new mirliton in a container

How to plant in the fall.

How to plant in the right sun conditions.

Checklist for Transplanting Containerized Mirlitons

Fertilizing Mirlitons

Why are my leaves yellowing?

How to grow Mirlitons in a large container.

Shading Your Mirliton

Tarp for Frost Protection

How to water a new seed in a 3-gallon container