Growing Choko in Australia: The Complete Guide
Choko is an easy (very vigorous) vine & cucurbit to grow, needing full sun with regular watering.
Choko is one of the easy (very vigorous) additions to a home garden, and this article walks through everything behind our one-page printable guide in a bit more depth.
Grown from the whole fruit
Unusually, choko is planted as the entire sprouted fruit laid on its side, not a seed — and the vine is famously vigorous, easily covering a large fence or arbour in one season.
Planting Choko
Method — lay a sprouted fruit on its side, half-buried, at the base of a sturdy structure. Soil — rich, well-drained. Timing — plant in spring once frost risk has passed.
Day-to-Day Care
The key things to get right:
- Provide a very sturdy trellis, fence, or arbour — growth is extremely vigorous.
- Water regularly through summer.
- Feed occasionally through the growing season.
- Prune back hard at season's end in cooler zones, where it may die back.
Common Problems
A few things matter most here:
- Overwhelming vigour — the main issue; site it where it can spread freely.
- Fruit fly — less commonly affected than other cucurbits.
- Frost dieback — top growth dies in a hard frost but the root often survives.
- Powdery mildew — humid weather; ensure good airflow.
Harvest and Storage
Signs — fruit reaches pale green, pear-sized, firm. Method — cut from the vine with secateurs. Curing — none needed. Storage — fridge, several weeks — chokoes store unusually well.
That's the full picture behind choko. The printable A4 version of this guide — with the quick-reference gauges and diagram in one page — is available on the main guide page below.