How to get Mirlitons to Sprout Quickly: Incubate Them!

by | Apr 1, 2023 | How To, Mirliton | 0 comments

Growers normally try to delay mirliton sprouting by putting new fruit in paper bags and storing them in a cool part of the house. Cool temperatures promote dormancy and prevent sprouting. But you may want to promote quick sprouting so you can plant them immediately in the ground or container, especially if you want to plant them in the fall.  Here’s an “incubation” trick that Joseph Boudreaux of Broussard taught me that speeds up sprouting.

You can incubate them inside your home in the fall or winter using a small plastic trash can with a heating pad underneath. Place the mirlitons in the can and loosely cover the top with some cardboard. Place a thermometer next to the mirlitons and adjust the heating pad to maintain the can temperature at 80°-85°.  When kept warm like this, the fruit will normally begin to sprout within 10-14 days. Sprouting is defined as when the internal seed pushes its way to the large end of the seed (“sticks its tongue out) and a small green shoot emerges. Here is how I did it with a trash can.

If the outside temperatures are in the 90s, you can do this outside in a cardboard box without a heating pad.   Once you pick the fruit, place it in a shaded warm area with a constant temperature of at least 75-80°F to encourage sprouting.  If storing them outside, use chicken wire or netting to protect the seed from pests that enjoy eating the new sprouts. 

Once a mirliton sprouts, it means the seed is viable and can be planted. It’s important not to distribute or sell the seed until it has sprouted because sometimes—especially with Spring mirlitons—the seed can look healthy but have no internal inner seed and will not sprout and grow a new vine (it’s called parthenocarpy). 

 

 

 

Recent Posts

Grow Your Mirliton Anywhere Using a Grow Bag

Mitchell Thomas had poor soil that does not drain well--and that’s bad news for mirlitons whose roots need to breathe. So, he developed a method of growing them in fabric “grow bags.”  He and others have gotten small crops with this technique. It enables you to grow...

Become a Cool-Season Mirliton Grower!

We have a problem. Anyone growing mirlitons for the past few years knows that if the heat waves don’t get your vines, the hurricanes will. The weather has changed, and the forecast is that it will only get worse- more heat waves and hurricanes. But we have a solution....

How to Plant a Spring Sprout to Prepare for a Fall Planting

Here’s a proven method of planting a spring sprout that you got too late for ground planting. Homer Baham told us about this simple method of container planting the mirliton for the summer and transplanting it into the ground in the fall.  Then he mulches it for the...

Why Are My Mirliton Leaves Turning Yellow?

Yellowing of a few leaves on a mirliton vine is normal and not necessarily caused by anything the grower did wriong. It’s usually caused by the stress of widely fluctuating soil moisture--intensive rains and droughts. You can’t control rain.  Adding fertilizers won’t...

Mirliton Water Uptake Root Diagram

Mirliton Root Structure: The roots extend about 12” deep. This diagram shows water uptake in increments of 4" and you can see that 70% of the water uptake occurs in the top 8".  There are shallow, superficial roots that extend laterally for up to 6 feet, but they only...

How To Grow a Mirliton in a Container on the Gulf Coast

Many people don’t have access to yard space, so they are attempting to grow mirlitons in containers. That’s difficult to do along the Gulf Coast--but not impossible. In 2020, James Cobb in Houma, Louisiana, was the first person I knew of who grew a mirliton to...

Made In the Shade

  In 2023, we learned that mirlitons need partial shade when there is prolonged, intensive heat above 95 degrees.  That, along with substantial ground irrigation, can get us through another Heat Dome.    If you are not lucky enough to have natural shade, a...

How to Use a Soil Sampler to Prevent Watering Problems in Mirlitons

The soil sampler is the simplest way to see how much moisture your mirliton roots are getting. It's the only quick, inexpensive way to see if you have over-watered or under-watered your vine.  The "second knuckle" method of sticking your finger into the soil only...

Preventing Cross-Pollination in Mirliton Varieties

There are no scientific studies on cross-pollination in mirlliton varieties, so we can't speak with any certainty about the chances of cross-pollination. Mirlitons are self-pollinating plants and are primarily pollinated by bees.  Honey bees are systematic foragers;...