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Please help with My chayote

 
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Hello, this is the first time I’ve planted chayote so I’d like to share my experience. I have a lot of questions and maybe you can help me figure them out.  
I planted chayote under a pacae tree (inga edulis) so it would grow and use the pacae as support. It worked, but after a few months the chayote vines that were growing on the pacae died, and new vines started growing from the ground.  
Is that normal? Is it normal for chayote vines to die? And for new vines to grow from the soil?

Another issue I had is that I never got it to fruit. The chayote would produce small flowers with tiny fruit, but the fruit never grew and then it would fall off. One thing I thought could be the problem is pollination. The strange thing is that my chayote is under a pacae tree that has had flowers and there were bees on those flowers. Plus, I have a beehive 4 meters from the chayote. What do you think about that? Do you think the problem could be pollination or maybe other causes?

In the photos you can see the chayote vines dying, as well as its fruits. And the new vines coming out of the ground._

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Since the new growth looks healthy, I don't think it's disease. My suspicions would be some sort of chewing or boring critter. Lots of gourds get attacked by vine borers...when I lived in Arizona it was a constant battle to try to get them out of the squash and pumpkin plants before they did too much damage. Look at the stem close to ground level and see if you can spot anything obvious. They will often have a hole with lots of droppings (frass) coming out.

if it wasn't an insect, it may be snails or slugs, or something bigger like a rodent.
 
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You're in a tropical climate aren't you Ronaldo? If I remember correctly that should suit Chayote OK; heat or cold during flowering can be a factor in fruit setting for many plants. They are perennial, so if the whole plant is not killed, then growing back from the roots makes perfect sense.
I agree with Phil that something attacking the stem is likely (I lose courgettes like that to slugs and pea plants to mice), but I've never grown chayote myself (on the wishlist now for my new polytunnel though!)
 
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Phil Stevens wrote:Since the new growth looks healthy, I don't think it's disease. .


I agree, and since the entire vine looks wilty.... could it be that there was wind and the support tree was swaying and the vine got damaged at its base?

I grow chayote and they are amazingly resilient plants. I've got one that is at least 4 years old and keeps putting out shoots. I cut the heck out of it (use it as browse for my rabbits). Fruiting in my setting (9b) is limited to early winter, they will have flowers/small fruits all year that fall off, the fruits only stay when it's cooler. Give it time, and I dont see any situation in which pollinators are a bad thing.
 
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I'm in the midwest and have never grew chayote but my mother in law did a few years ago. She was successful in getting the plant to fruit right before frost. She planted the starts in well drained soil that had at least 8 hours of sunlight during the growing season here. She did have to install a trellis for the vines. Since we have a shorter growing season, only 1-2 variety of chayote will fruit.
 
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The dying back and resprouting from the base sounds pretty normal for chayote honestly. They're perennial but the top growth can be pretty sensitive to anything stressing the stem, whether that's borers, slugs, or just mechanical damage from the support moving. As long as the roots are intact and putting out new shoots it should be fine.
 
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Maybe it has to do with rainfall.

Since some vines look wilty could it be that the fruit dropped off due to not enough water?
 
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