Chilacayote Squash

Cucurbita ficifolia

Also known as: Fig-Leaf Gourd, Malabar Gourd, Siam Pumpkin, Shark Fin Melon, Chiverre, Calabaza China, Pie Melon


A remarkable long-storing squash from the Andes and Mesoamerica, quite unlike anything else in the pumpkin patch. Fruit is large, rounded, melon-shaped, and dramatically mottled green and white, weighing up to 6kg on a hugely vigorous, sprawling vine that can reach 17m in a warm season. Young fruit cooks and eats like zucchini; mature fruit holds a translucent, stringy white flesh traditionally used for pies, sweet preserves, and the syrupy Latin American dessert cabello de ángel — and famously for the "shark fin" texture in East Asian cooking, where the strands stand in for the real thing. Very hardy, disease resistant, and one of the few squashes that can hold in storage for close to a year. Sprawling vine — needs serious room to run.

Days to harvest 80–120 days from sowing
Fruit size Large melon-shaped fruit up to 6kg, mottled green and white
Sowing depth 2–3cm
Germination 7–14 days at soil temperature 21–30°C
Spacing 2m or more between plants — this vine is not for cramped beds
Aspect Full sun; deep, well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Frost tolerance Sensitive to frost at both ends of the season — sow after last frost, harvest before first frost. In truly frost-free zones the plant behaves as a short-lived perennial

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position with room to sprawl suits it best. Chilacayote is a quiet grower for the first few weeks and then throws vine at a startling rate — plan its space before sowing.

Soil preparation: Deeply worked beds with generous well-rotted compost and aged manure. Cucurbits are heavy feeders — build the bed before sowing and top-dress as the vine takes off.

Sowing method: Sow 2–3 seeds per station 2m apart, either direct into warm soil or into large pots for transplant, then thin to the strongest seedling per station.

Support: Usually left to trail along the ground, where it will happily cover fence lines, sheds, and any adjacent structure. Can be trained up a very sturdy pergola if space is tight and the frame can carry heavy fruit.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base, especially through fruit set and swell. Overhead watering invites mildew. Side-dress with well-rotted manure or a balanced liquid feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: For zucchini-style use, pick young fruit at 15–20cm while the flesh is still tender. For long storage, leave fruit on the vine until the skin hardens and the stem starts to cork; cut with a length of stem attached and cure in a warm dry spot for a week before storing. Well-cured fruit will hold in a cool, dry space for 6–12 months.

Timing: Young fruit ready around 60 days from sowing; mature keepers ready around 100–120 days.

Key features

  • Extraordinarily long storage — up to a year in a cool dry place
  • Dual purpose: young fruit like zucchini, mature fruit for pies, preserves, and shark-fin-style dishes
  • Edible seeds — dry and eat like pumpkin seeds
  • Young tips edible in salads
  • Very hardy and disease resistant
  • Will not cross-pollinate with other cucurbits — clean seed saving

Short season tips


Direct sow into warm ground from mid-spring to early summer once frost risk has passed. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, that means mid-November onwards. If time is tight, start seed indoors in large pots 3–4 weeks before transplanting — cucurbits resent root disturbance, so handle carefully and move on with the root ball intact. Given the long season this squash needs for mature fruit, get plants in at the first reliable warm window and let them run.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Tender perennial — grown as an annual in most Australian gardens

  • Corn, climbing beans, nasturtium, borage, marigold
  • Potatoes. Cross-pollination isn't a concern with other cucurbits — Cucurbita ficifolia doesn't cross with C. pepo, C. maxima, or C. moschata, which makes it a rare stress-free seed-saver in a mixed cucurbit garden


An ancient cultivated squash of the Americas, grown across the Andes and Mesoamerica for thousands of years and named in Nahuatl as tzilacayotli — the source of the modern Mexican name. From its highland origins it travelled with traders and colonists across the Pacific to become the Malabar Gourd of India, the shark-fin substitute of Chinese kitchens, and the Siam Pumpkin of southeast Asia; in Latin America it remains a fixture of Christmas confectionery and heritage cooking. One of the most well-travelled squashes in the world, still relatively unknown in Australian gardens.