How to Grow Choko

Potted Choko plants are sometimes available in garden centres or online nurseries, however an easy way to grow a new Choko vine is from the mature fruit. Go to your local greengrocer and buy a Choko fruit or two, then pop them on a sunny windowsill. Over the coming weeks, a shoot will grow. When the shoot is around 10 cm long, you can plant the fruit out into the garden or in a pot, next to a sunny pergola, fence or trellis. Dig the hole deep enough to cover most of the Choko fruit but leave the sprouted end above the soil. Keep the young plant moist while it establishes. 

Chokos like growing during the warmer months and are frost tender. So only plant outside once the risk of frost has passed. 

Here are more details about How to Grow a Choko in a Garden. 

Choose a spot in your garden with well-drained soil that receives full sun to part shade (at least four hours of sunshine a day). These vigorous, fast-growing vines need plenty of space to grow, so it will need to be next to a strong trellis, fence or pergola.  

Where the plant is to grow, enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. This helps improve soil health and provides the plant with gentle slow-release organic nutrients as it establishes.

When planting a sprouted Choko, dig the hole deep enough to cover most of the Choko fruit, but leave the sprouted-end above the soil. 

For a potted Choko, dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the Choko from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots. Position in the hole and backfill with soil, gently firming down. Form a raised or doughnut shaped ring of soil around the outer edge of the plant's root zone. This helps keep water where it's needed.   

Always water in well after planting to settle the soil around the roots. 

Keep the soil consistently moist for several weeks while the new plant establishes. To help retain soil moisture, apply an organic mulch, such as bark chips, sugar cane or pea straw around the root zone. To promote good air flow and reduce the chance of disease, keep the mulch away from the stem. 

Monitor for Snails and Slugs, which can damage young stems and leaves. To protect Chokos from Snails and Slugs, lightly sprinkle some Yates Snail & Slug Bait around the base of the plant.

Water plants deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions. To promote healthy growth and lots of fruit, apply Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser around the root zone every six weeks.  

It takes around 18 weeks from planting for vines to start producing fruit. Pick Chokos by snipping the fruit off when they're 5-7 cm long. When picked young, the skin and fruit is still tender. If left on the vine for longer, they become tougher and less appetising. Harvest Chokos regularly to promote a longer fruiting season.  

Plants can continue to produce fruit for several months, until the weather starts to cool in autumn. In warmer climates and frost-free areas, these perennial vines can live for several years. In cooler and frost-prone climates, Choko plants are best treated as an annual and replanted every year in spring.

Chokos can be grown successfully in medium to large sized pots. Choose a pot at least 30 cm in diameter that has good drainage holes. Place in a position in full sun to part shade, next to a strong support such as a pergola or fence which the vine can climb.

Fill the pot with a good quality premium potting mix like Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter.

When planting a sprouted Choko, dig the hole in the potting mix deep enough to cover most of the Choko fruit, but leave the sprouted-end above the mix. 

For a potted Choko, dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the Choko plant from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots. Position in the hole and backfill with potting mix, gently firming down.  

Always water in well after planting to settle the potting mix around the roots.  

Keep the potting mix consistently moist for several weeks while the new plant establishes. To help retain moisture, apply an organic mulch, such as bark chips, sugar cane or pea straw around the root zone. To promote good air flow and reduce the chance of disease, keep the mulch away from the stem. 

Water plants deeply, once or twice a week, depending on weather conditions. To promote healthy growth and lots of Choko fruit, apply Yates Dynamic Lifter Liquid Concentrate every 1-3 weeks.  

It takes around 18 weeks from planting for vines to start producing fruit. Pick Chokos by snipping the fruit off when they're 5-7 cm long. When picked young, the skin and fruit is still tender. If left on the vine for longer, they become tougher and less appetising. Harvest Chokos regularly to promote a longer fruiting season.  

Fruit production can continue for several months, until the weather starts to cool in autumn. In warmer climates and frost-free areas, these perennial vines can live for several years. In cooler and frost-prone climates, Choko plants are best treated as an annual and replanted every year in spring.

Chokos are self-pollinating and only one vine is needed to get an abundance of fruit. 

Prune the vine each winter to leave two-to-four young shoots for the next crop to grow the following season. 

Chokos are prone to a few sap-sucking pests, including Aphids and Whiteflies. These pests suck out the plant juices and leaves can start to yellow and become distorted. Sap-sucking insects can also transmit damaging plant viruses, and excrete a clear sticky substance known as honeydew. A black powdery fungal disease known as Sooty Mould then feeds on the honeydew.

As soon as Aphids or Whiteflies are noticed, spray plants thoroughly every 5-7 days with Yates Nature's Way Vegie & Herb Spray. It's important to spray both sides of the foliage, as Aphids and Whiteflies commonly hide on the undersides of leaves. 

There are a few chewing pests that feed on Chokos including Caterpillars, Snails and Slugs. These can all create holes in leaves, as well as damage young stems.

There are several types of Caterpillars that attack Chokos. As soon as Caterpillars (or their damage and droppings) are noticed, spray plants every 7-14 days with Yates Success Ultra.

Snails and Slugs can chew through Choko leaves and are particularly common during damp or humid weather. To protect Chokos from Snails and Slugs, lightly scatter Yates Snail & Slug Bait around the base of the plants.

If your Choko fruits are falling off as they're ripening, and they have pin-prick holes in the skin and small creamy-coloured grubs squirming about inside, then you have Fruit Fly.

The best way to control Fruit Fly is by preventing the adult Fruit Fly from laying eggs on the fruit. Yates Nature's Way Fruit Fly Control attracts male and female Queensland Fruit Fly and Mediterranean Fruit Fly with a protein and sugar-based bait. The flies feed on the bait that also contains Spinosad, an insecticide derived from a naturally occurring bacteria, that kills them. The vine leaves and stems can be sprayed with Yates Nature's Way Fruit Fly Control (don't spray the fruit). Alternatively, spray a 30 cm x 30 cm piece of plywood and hang this near the Choko vine.  

It's important to re-spray the vine or the plywood every week up until harvest, to help keep the fruit protected.

Chokos are prone to a fungal disease known as Powdery Mildew, particularly during wet or humid weather. Symptoms of this disease include white powdery patches on the leaf's upper surface and curling leaf edges.

To help reduce the incidence of Powdery Mildew, grow Chokos in an airy sunny position. Also, water Choko vines around the roots rather than over the leaves as wet foliage can promote diseases. At the first sign of Powdery Mildew, spray plants with Yates Mancozeb Plus Garden Fungicide & Miticide every 7-10 days.