Allotments 4 All

Cucummis metulifera - I fancied growing this because it sounded interesting in the seed catalogue. I have one plant with four fruit on. They are still green but interesting to look at. When is it ripe and what do I do with it?

The skin turns orange when ripe. The only way I've tried them is to cut the fruit in half and then scoop out the green jelly and seeds, quite refreshing  :)

I found this http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-a-Kiwano-(Horned-Melon) on Google!

this is my documented attempt at growing the kiwano.

http://plantsalive.webs.com/apps/wiki/growing-kiwano-cucumis-metuliferus

Mine are still green to. I think I started them off to late.

I sowed mine on March 27th in a heated propagator, three seeds, all germinated. They were potted on and moved to an unheated propagator about 10 days later, moving to a bigger pot in a plastic "growhouse" on the balcony a couple of weeks later before finally setting up home in the cold-frame in the garden. Fruiting hasn't been heavy, there are several fruit that may or may not have been pollinated properly, they haven't got very big, but two are about 4" long and 3" in diameter, speckled green but slowly getting paler, looking much like the one on WikiPedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chifrudo.JPG

Not certain how many seeds I sowed in the GH in March but one germinated. It was potted on and eventually planted into multi pupose compost in a 2 gal builders bucket and put outside in full sun. The plant was watered daily and fertilised when I remembered. Four fruit set, one about 4" long but still green, two about half that size and one a bit smaller. Plant spread 2-3 ft but not very vigoroius.
Maybe if I had fertilised it more often or if it had been planted in the garden there might have been a bigger plant and more fruit set.
Reports on the web say taste varies from interesting/refreshing to awful. One site said they make good talking points if put in a bowl as an ornament!!. I will see what the taste is like when it ripens and this could influence if I give it another try next year but I might anyway just because it is so different to look at.

I did not sow mine until the middle of may. been in greenhouse all summer but gh is overshadowed by trees. I dont think I will be tasting kiwano this year. I will try again next year though. Will be interesting to hear what other people on here think it tastes like.