Mexican cucumber: characteristics and description of the variety, reviews of summer residents with photos

Exotic vegetable Mexican cucumber has already adapted to the gardens of Russian gardeners. It is not only tasty, but also he althy - it contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals. What is this vegetable and how to grow it, we will learn further.

Description of fruit and bush

Perennial plant of the gourd family. Brought and adapted in our climatic 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 a juicy pulp, the taste resembles an ordinary zucchini.

Grown on the territory of the Black Sea and in the Krasnodar Territory. Georgia is also famous for these fruits. Plants look like vines or lashes of cucumbers, maybe that's why Chayote was piled with Mexican cucumber. When grown, the lashes reach a length of up to 20 meters; as they grow, long antennae appear on the lashes, with which the vine clings to hedges and grows. The leaves are round - they reach 10-25 centimeters wide, 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 harvested until December, as they are well preserved in cool weather. You can not leave vegetables in the garden if frost is coming.

Unlike ordinary plants, two crops are harvested from Chayota - the aboveground and underground parts. Tubers similar to potatoes are formed in the ground, the taste of which resembles 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 removed from a bush at the age of five. At the same time, the weight of one vegetable reaches 1 kilogram.

The aerial part of the creeper produces fruits that look like a pear in appearance with a taste of zucchini. Many first and second courses, side dishes are prepared from them. Also, this vegetable is often used to treat diseases.

Use of fruits in cooking

For the preparation of various dishes, almost all parts of the plant are used, except for the stem. Various salads are prepared from the leaves, tubers are used to make pancakes or ground into flour, as they contain a large amount of starch. So, the shelf life of tubers is much shorter than that of above-ground fruits, then the tubers are dried and ground into flour for dietary nutrition.

Above-ground fruits are stewed, fried, added to soups and marinated. 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, sauté and stews are made from Chayote.

The young shoots are used in cooking like asparagus, and the dried stems are used instead of rope.

Medical uses of the plant

In medicine, tubers are used for diuretic action, nutritionists recommend for cardiovascular diseases.

Leaves used for healing:

• gastrointestinal tract;
• remove kidney stones;
• hypertension.
• atherosclerosis.

They are prepared as follows: pour boiling water and insist.

Cucumbers are used for healing:

• thyroid;
• ulcers;
• hemorrhoids;
• pancreatitis;
• constipation;
• mastopathy;
• oncological diseases.

Useful substances included in the composition

Fruits contain trace elements 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. It also contains the following amino acids: valine, leucine, arginine, threonine.

Cultivation of Chayote

Maturing term from planting to ripening - 200 days. In central Russia, cultivation is carried out in greenhouses; they are planted in open areas as an ornamental plant, because vegetables do not have time to ripen.In the southern region, the plant is considered 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 top dressing. Usually the soil is prepared in autumn.

Preparing and planting seeds

The vegetable contains one large seed the size of a finger. When stored outdoors, the seed quickly weathers and loses its ability to germinate. Therefore, fruit seeds are stored until planting, wrapped in damp gauze in the refrigerator. You can plant a whole fruit that contains a seed. The temperature for germination should not fall below 20 degrees, the ripening period is 6-7 months. Therefore, plants are grown in seedlings, plant the seed in a warm room in boxes with fertilized soil in February.

Before germination, cover with a film, and then remove it and put the boxes in a sunny place. When the shoots germinate, 2-3 shoots are left in the box, the rest are cut and germinated in the usual way.

Transplantation is carried out at the onset of a stable 20-degree temperature in the greenhouse. When planting a vegetable without seedlings, in May they dig a greenhouse into the soil with a wide part down at an angle. In this case, a third should remain on the surface. Landing is carried out at a distance of 1 square meter.

Plant care

When the vine reaches a length of 80 centimeters, pinch the shoots, leaving 2-3 shoots on the sides. Since the cucumber is a creeping plant, it is allowed along the trellis. Usually it is placed on top of the greenhouse. This plant blooms at the same time - with a daylight hours of less than 12 hours, our gardeners are experimenting, bringing the period of flowering and fruit set closer artificially. To do this, the greenhouse is covered with a material that does not transmit light.

This shrub is demanding on watering, the soil must be kept constantly moist, otherwise fruit ripening will be delayed.After watering, the soil around the stem is loosened, thereby ridding the soil of fungus and other diseases. Also to keep moisture in the ground. The ground must not be allowed to freeze, otherwise the plant will die.

Harvesting

Vegetables are ready for picking when the peel appears shiny and the fruit is light green in color. The collection must be completed before the onset of frost, as frozen vegetables cannot be stored and lose their nutritional value.

Also dig underground fruits and use one of the methods described. It is not recommended to store them, as the shelf life of these fruits is short.

Reviews

This vegetable is grown in Russia not only for fruits, but also as an ornamental plant. Since the creepers look very nice around the gazebo and protect from direct sunlight.Therefore, gardeners have left a lot of feedback on growing this exotic vegetable.

Alexander: “I grow this plant in the open ground. Basically, it performs a decorative function. The fruits do not have time to ripen, as the cold 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 is normal care, watering, weeding, fertilizing. If grown in a greenhouse, the harvest is rich. Up to 50 kilograms of a he althy vegetable can be harvested from one plant.”

Marina: “I have he alth problems, a friend recommended eating Chayote fruits for food to cleanse the body of harmful substances and restore pressure. At first I bought fruits in the market, and then I decided to grow them myself. After all, the plant can grow well even on the windowsill. He alth has improved, atherosclerotic plaques have decreased.I even stopped taking strong blood pressure medication by lowering the dosage of the drug.”

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