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. We have the perfect six-month season free of heat and hurricanes: November through April. Why not take advantage of it? It’s possible for you to get three crops in those six cool months: fall, winter, and spring!
You can plant your sprouts in the fall and let them grow on a small trellis throughout the winter. You can easily protect it from those few frost/freeze nights by temporarily tenting it with a tarp or plastic and adding a heating element. It’s additional work, but you will get a spring crop and head into the summer with a healthy vine with a good root structure. A strong, mature vine like that can make it through summer heat domes and you may even get a second fall crop.
Cool, ain’t it?
You don’t need anything fancy to cool-season grow mirlitons. Just a tarp or plastic to throw over the vine and a small space heater to keep the temperature inside the enclosure above 32℉. I use an inexpensive remote thermometer to monitor the temperature.
As always, you will need a certified Louisiana heirloom mirliton to ensure success.
Of course, if you don’t want to become a cool-season grower, you can simply plant in the fall, which is much better than spring planting. Then, you can cut the vine back in November and heavily mulch it throughout winter.
That will give you a much stronger vine going into the summer and you might even get a small spring crop.
Here are the tools I use for cool-season planting:
Tarp or 6-mil plastic sheeting
Portable Heater (electric or propane)
Wireless Remote Thermometer (click to view)