Perennial Squash

Does anyone know of any perennial squash varieties? I would like to try growing some.

There are several perennial cucurbits, but none will take freezing:
- Chayote (Sechium edule)
- Caihua (Cyclanthera pedata)
- Cassabanana (Sicana odorifera)
- Serpent gourd (Trichosanthes anguina)
Depends on your climate...

Check out this thread about Cucurbita ficifolia

saskia, Do you think those would die back to the ground in a light frost (which is the worst we get), or die entirely?

Paleo Gardener wrote:
saskia, Do you think those would die back to the ground in a light frost (which is the worst we get), or die entirely?

Chayote can take a light frost, as long as the ground does not freeze. The above ground parts will die but it should resprout in spring. The others I can't say...

Ah, that should be great! I don't think the air temperature ever gets more than a few degrees below freezing here, so chayote should be good. Thanks for the information.

Chayote isn't that Choco? NOthing great but you will have lots of it.

I'm too far north for this but still curious... by the end of the season many squash around here pretty typically succumb to powdery mildew or similar. This is no big deal for annuals because by then they've given a ton of squash, but for perennials it would worry me. Is that a problem with these guys?

decev wrote:
I'm too far north for this but still curious... by the end of the season many squash around here pretty typically succumb to powdery mildew or similar. This is no big deal for annuals because by then they've given a ton of squash, but for perennials it would worry me. Is that a problem with these guys?

In my experience, something may be a perennial, but they do eventually give up the fight. A pepper plant here is a perennial, but I don't expect them to last much more than 5 years. I have never had squash last more than say 2 years, and that was remarkable.

Besides, if my experience means anything, you are going to be going at it with a scythe after a while trying to keep it contained. Oh, and the growing tips are very tasty!

Chayote grows very strongly .... and the entire plant is edible.
Vine tips with tendrils and 2 or 3 leaves are great stir fried.
You can harvest some tips and then leave the plant to form fruit too.
We plant several and harvest leaves and tips only from some plants grown on the ground
and leave the others to vine into trees so they can fruit.