Guiskil de Papa – Guatemalan Potato Chayote – extremely rare!

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This is a holy grail plant for us.  We have been aware of this elusive variety of chayote for many years, hoping to someday find it.  Finally, a friend (legally) brought us some from Guatemala.  This is a chayote variety that to our knowledge is only known in Guatemala.  The “de papa” in local nomenclature indicates that this chayote tastes like potato.  It is known for being rich, dense and starchy.  Recently, we cooked our first fruit from our vine and were very pleased that it lived to the hype.  The pieces browned in a skillet like a potato and had a very delicious starchy quality.  A top tier vegetable.  The fruits are covered in vicious spines and need to be carefully peeled.  We have noticed however that these spines protect the fruits from squirrel predation, while a nearby smooth fruit has had heavier losses.  Our vines began flowering a little later than some other types, meaning this variety may be a little trickier in early frost prone areas.  This assessment is only based on one season though.

From two original fruits, one bore true to type.  The other must have picked up some other pollen in Guatemala because the fruit is an off type. It’s a smooth mini chayote.  These vines are mixed together on a trellis , meaning the true type seeds could have pollen from the off type.  We have had different chayotes growing together before and avoided cross pollination so we suspect the cross pollination rate may be relatively low.  Know that this purchase includes some risk of off-type fruit presentation which would still be 75 percent genetically pure.

This listing is for 2 fruits with sprout primordia. We only ship fruits that have split and have the beginnings of germination so that the buyer has better assurance of proper sprouting.  Packaging will carefully protect fruits and sprouts. Sechium edule.