Sprouted Mirliton
You can ground-plant a fall mirliton sprout as late as October, and a spring sprout as late as June. The June planting will have to be initially shaded. See here. Outside these two windows of opportunity, you will have to plant the sprout in a 3-gallon container until you transplant it into the ground. (see below how to container and trellis it). Get the plant growing in a container as soon as possible.
1. If your mirliton has not sprouted, (fig. 1) place it horizontally in the warmest room of your house. At 75 degrees, the mirliton should begin to sprout in 2-6 weeks.
Fig. 1. Unsprouted mirlitons.
2. If your mirliton has already begun to sprout (tongue sticking out) (fig. 2), you are ready to overwinter it to help it develop a root ball.
Fig. 2. Sprout first emerges (above) and shoots extending (below). These are ready to plant.
3. Over-wintering: Once your mirliton is sprouted, plant the whole fruit at a 45-degree angle about 2/3 of the way down with the sprouting end down in a 3-gallon container filled with good potting soil (fig. 3). Water thoroughly the first time. Mirlitons don’t need much water during the overwintering. Here’s how to use a bamboo skewer to test soil moisture. Or you lift the container slightly every few days to gauge if the soil is drying out, and only water if it is noticeably light. David Hubbell has an excellent video on overwintering a mirliton here.
Fig. 3. Sprout planted “sprouting end down” at 45-degree angle with about 2/3 underground in a 3-gallon container.
4. Trellising: Use a 24” – 36″ tomato cage as a trellis. You can prune it back for months to keep it compact, and that won’t hurt the vine. The goal is to develop a good root ball. When you transplant it into the ground in the spring, the vine can be unwound from the tomato cage, and the canopy can be attached to your garden trellis (see below images).
Vine trellised on a tomato cage.
Top-down view of vine trellised on a tomato cage.
Vine untangled from the tomato cage is ready to transplant into the ground.
5. Transplanting: When the possibility of a spring frost passes, you can transplant it into the ground. If your container plant is well-developed, you can even get a small spring crop! See Mirliton.Org for instructions on building a grow site and general procedures for watering, fertilization, shading, and plant pests and diseases. Click here for Mirliton.Org to find answers to all your Mirliton growing questions. Join the national mirliton gardeners Facebook Group and post questions and follow the progress of other Mirliton gardeners here.