We are sorry to learn of the passing of Ishreal Thibodeaux who for more than forty years preserved the rare pure-white mirliton that we named in his honor.  Mr. Thibodeaux donated many seed to the Mirlitons.Org project to ensure that his variety would survive.  He would be pleased to learn that several “Ishreal Thibodeaux” mirliton variety plants are now thriving.  Here is his obituary and below are two photographs that I took during my last visit: once includes an enlarged photo of the Thibodeaux fruit which he framed and proudly hung in his house.

Here are some photos of Kevin Boutte’s mirliton vines in the Teche area of Louisiana

Jeanette Bell is doing some remarkable work on bringing fresh food to inner-city neighborhoods in New Orleans.  I first learned about her work from this short video about her mirliton vine in her Fleur d’Eden on Baronne street in New Orleans. It turns out that she received her mother plant from Pam Broom last year (see below), which means that it was the “Joseph Boudreaux” Louisiana heirloom variety that we provided to Pam two years ago.  Jeannette distributed 70 plants from her mother plant last year, so the Boudreaux variety in expanding exponentially in New Orleans!  Jeannette also runs the Garden On Mars project that instructs people how to convert abandoned lots into urban gardens. Here is a recent article on Jeanette’s work.

(Joseph Boudreaux with his home-grown mirliton variety)

Part of the inspiration for forming Mirliton.Org was the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans the the Louisiana coastal parishes. Mirliton plants will die if the roots are submerged in water for more than 48 hours: The Katrina flood destroyed all the vines in flooded areas in New Orleans and some coastal parishes.

To renew the tradition of backyard mirliton growing, we had to find traditional heirloom mirliton varieties grown outside New Orleans.  The mirlitons sold commercially in grocery stores (as Chayote) could not be used as seed: they are largely imported from high altitude sites in Costa Rica and Mexico and although they will sprout and grow a few stems, like many high-altitude plants, they normally succumb to our  unique growing environment and plant diseases.

Since 2007, we have searched for growers of what we call traditional “Louisiana heirloom mirlitons” by advertising in the Louisiana Department of Agriculture publication “Market Bulletin” and contacting Parish (county) Agricultural Extension Service staff–thanks to the assistance of the Louisiana State University extension service.  We also simply drove the roads along the bayous where mirlitons were traditionally grown on bayou banks (that’s how we found the Mister Rock mirliton variety).

We eventually found growers who had been growing the same variety for decades, although they are few and far between and a disappearing breed.  With the discovery of these growers–most of them older gardeners in their eighties who were upholding a family tradition of mirliton growing, we knew now that the traditional locally-grown varieties would once again thrive in New Orleans and rest of the state.

These growers would donate seed mirlitons to re-seed New Orleans and, as the demand grew, we would also buy from growers and give away the seed as sprouts and plants.  As word spread of our project (which began under the name “Adopt-A–Mirliton”), we ended up distributing seed throughout Louisiana, Texas, Mississipi, and Alabama.  We decided to feature some of the success stories on this blog from time to time.

In 2010 a reader of the Market Bulletin called me and said he knew of a grower in Broussard, Louisiana who had several vines of the same variety that he had been growing for decades.  I visited Joseph Boudreaux in Broussard and he donated a few of his mirlitons and I purchased several more.  Later, after an early freeze, he donated a few dozen freeze-damaged fruit that he assured us would germinate and grow: he was right.

We always name the variety after the person we first found growing it so that we can track the variety’s  progress as we distribute it throughout the region; heirloom varieties have different qualities that we are testing for, such as fruiting habits and disease resistance.  Naming the variety also allows us to find new growers who will “adopt” a specific variety and commit to growing it so that we will always have a reliable seed source and can preserve the genetic diversity of the locally grown varieties.

In 2011, Mirliton.Org donated three container plants of the Joseph Boudreaux variety to Sun Harvest Garden in New Orleans on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.  A small Central City community garden built on a cleared lot, Sun Harvest is run by Pam Broom, a long-time community activist and urban farming advocate.  Planted in the spring of 2011, the vine produced a small crop later that fall.  During the warm winter of 2012 (we never got a frost in central New Orleans), Pam harvested even more fruit and the plant is still producing during the traditional spring crop cycle.

Pam has distributed some of the the new fruit as seed to other gardeners in the area and her vine is, as mirlitons are inclined to do, rapidly taking over more of her garden.  But she’s happy with the prolific new arrival.  “One of the things that inspires me most about receiving mirliton plants from Mr. Joseph Boudreaux,” says Pam, “is that thanks to him, I am experiencing growing a beautiful, sweet and delicious variety in the heart of the City of New Orleans.”

From Broussard to New Orleans: mirlitons are making a comeback thanks to people who appreciate this iconic Louisiana plant.

Pam Broom with her Joseph Boudreaux mirliton variety vine at the Sun Harvest Garden in New Orleans

Lance Hill

Mirliton.org

The hot and rainy weather has brought out the annual anthracnose disease for mirlitons.  See the last summer’s blog entry here on this disease (I have added a photograph and link to more photos) which discusses how to recognize the different signs of powdery mildew and anthracnose. The growers guide on the web site has additional information.  Anthracnose infects almost all mirliton plants, especially in their first year, but depending on proper care and hopefully a low rate of evening rain showers, the disease will only affect a few stems and when those die, new stems will return.

Mirliton leaf infected with anthracnose plant disease. Note different browning pattern and the distinctive “shot hole” in the middle of the brown tissue, which does not occur with powdery mildew (anthracnose, unlike powdery mildew, can live on dead plant tissue and literally “eat a hole” through the plant)

I just posted to our FAQ page a comprehensive article on powdery mildew in Mirlitons.  I tried to get it to fit on the blog but apparently blogs are for concise thinkers–that rules me out.  Visit the FAQ page and Garden Blog for new useful information.

Lance Hill, Mirliton.Org

Ishreal Thibodeaux Variety Mirliton.  This is the only pure-white mirliton that we know of in the South.

Because of the warm winter, we have been getting an early crop of mirlitons that started in February.  I noticed these gelatinous clear growths on the immature fruit and then spotted an immature and mature leaf footed bug (stink bug) that feed on the fruit.

Fruit fluids (cytoplasm) leaking from fruit and jelling. Note flower and fruit are dead

Dr. Dale Pollet of LSU identified these growths as the cytoplasm (fruit fluids) oozing from the fruit after the leaf footed bugs have penetrated the fruit skin to feed on it.  In this case, attacking the very small immature fruit kills the fruit.  I have seen the insect also try to feed on mature fruit which does not display any immediate damage but will manifest as brown bruising after the fruit is picked.  They also spread plant diseases. The best method of control is to pick the insects off by hand, but they can be treated with organic fungicides.  If you use an organic pesticide, be careful that it is not toxic to bees (it is pollination season) and that it is not phytotoxic (can damage leaves in high temperatures).  Test it on a few leaves for one week first.

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Immature Leaf footed Bug on Mirliton Leaf

Leaf footed bug feeding on flowers. They can block pollination tubes.

Mature Leaf Footed Bug (stink bug)

Lance Hill

Mirliton.org

Lance@mirliton.org

September 23rd will be the autumn equinox which means that in about 10 days we will have equal daylight and darkness.  Since mirlitons (chayote) are photoperiodic (flowering triggered by equal light), we should start to see some flowering soon.  Mirlitons are also thermoperiodic which means a little cool weather will also stimulate flowering.  Here are a few things to keep in mind for the fall crop:

1. Don’t fertilize during this period.  Mirlitons require additional nitrogen when they first start and throughout the vining stage, but they produce more fruit in the fall if they have less available nitrogen.  This is always one of the tricky things about mirlitons–they have different nitrogen requirements at different times.  This is a challenge for growers using manure since it is slow release, but the slow release fertilizers, natural or synthetic, are a good way to avoid excessive nitrogen.

2. Watch for leaf footed bugs ( a variety of stink bugs).  There are photos of them on the web page photo site.  Immature leaf footed bugs are red and easy to identify.  I have seen that they will feed on flowers and fruit–leaving the fruit with late bruising and a bitter taste.  They are easily treated with organic pesticides or just manually picked off.  Various beetles can cause damage to leaves and stems and introduce wilt and other diseases and they can also be treated.  In many ways, the traditional overhead trellis makes it difficult to detect and treat insects, so there is an argument for a lower trellis. In addition, a 4-5 foot trellis permits for easier hand-pollination and the trellis can be more easily covered with plastic to protect from cold temperatures.

3. When is a mirliton ripe?  Most fruit will mature within 21 days of flower germination, and the “thumbnail test” is the easiest way to test for maturity. Simply press youth thumbnail into the flesh and if it dents the flesh easily, the fruit is immature and still contains too much moisture and not enough structure.  I  mature mirliton will be hard and resist denting. Some growers like larger mirlitons (the average at picking, depending on the variety, is 8-12 ounces).  You can leave the fruit on the vine for several weeks and some heirloom varieties will get very large–up to 30 ounces.  Other varieties have a terminal fruit growth of about 10 ounces.  The older the mirliton, the more fibrous the flesh.  Again, it is a matter of taste and you can experiment with picking and boiling at different sizes.

5. Pollination. Bees are the primary pollinators  for mirlitons.  Bees are finicky and systematic feeders and simply having them in your garden does not mean they will pollinate your plant.  Go out about 10:00 a.m. on a sunny day and see if they are visiting your mirliton flowers.  If they are not, you have to hand-pollinate per the instructions on the photo site or you can spray with Fruit Boost or other artificial queen bee hormones.  Only one pollination is necessary since the pollen is sticky and adheres to the female stigma.  Mirlitons will flower from October through December if the weather is warm, but hormone levels drop off after November so germination rates are lower.

6. Protect from cold weather.  You can take your chances with cold weather, but immature fruit will die when temperatures drop below 55 degrees F.  If you want your mirlitons to survive cool weather damage or frost damage, invest in a large roll of plastic, a drop light, and a receptacle thermostat (see growers guide).  By covering your vine and keeping the temperature above 60 degrees, you will protect the new fruit and be able to harvest all the way through December.  You may have to removed the plastic during the day to prevent overheating. Freeze damaged fruit cannot be eaten but they do grow well as seeds if they are planted immediately on containers or mounds.

7. In the growers guide, we suggest several methods of overwintering sprouts.  Leo Jones of  Marrero, Louisiana told me of good technique of overwintering sprouts if you don’t have container room.  He digs a hole in the garden and fill it with straw and places several mirlitons in the hole and covers with soil and mulches. He digs these up in march and they have developed a good root structure and shoot and can be transplanted to mounds (bury the roots and shoot completely to avoid sun scorching.   If you are going to store mirlitons in paper bags (the old fashioned way, which we don’t recommend), follow the instructions in the growers and powder the fruit in sulfur to protect them from fungi.

8. As always, send us photos of your plants.  We are always looking for different heirloom varieties, so feel free to email us about growers in your area.   This last summer we had an anthracnose epidemic which damaged many of the vines in the Southern part of the state, but rest of the state had low rainfall so we expect a good crop of heirloom mirliton seeds.  If you are subscribed to the “Alerts” on the web site, you will be notified when seed is available through cooperating garden centers or directly from growers.   It is always advisable to start with 3-5 sprouts to increase your chances of getting a plant through the first year, which is the key to a healthy and productive vine.  Second-year plants have better root structure and “systemic acquired resistance” means that plants exposed to fungal toxins like anthracnose will develop some natural resistance to the fungus in future years.

Lance Hill

Mirliton.org

Lance@mirliton.org