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A friend gave me seeds of what she said was Karella.

This is what grew -



The leaves are soft and it looks like some sort of squash, but before I plant
it I wondered if anyone had any idea what it might be.

This is Karella grown from seed given to me by someone else -




(can't get the photos in the right place, but the top one is the mystery one)

I grow that it's called a Doodhi or Dhudi. It is a green squash which can be long or short. It will need help to be pollinated.

Quote from: clumsy on June 13, 2013, 17:14:07
I grow that it's called a Doodhi or Dhudi. It is a green squash which can be long or short. It will need help to be pollinated.

Thanks clumsy.  Do you grow yours up a frame?
Do you also grow Karella?

I thought that duhdi were long and smooth and Karella are short and sort of warty.  They sell them in the Asian supermarkets.

I think you have to rub salt on them to get rid of the bitter taste.   

If it is what i think it is then it is what a lot of people call 'bitter gourd' and as Digeroo says and its name implies, it is incredibly bitter but some people like the taste in a curry (not me though!).   

The dhudi is planted grows bit like a cucumber plant. We grow it next to a fence so the plant can climb up on it. The dhudi is a soft green squash it can get damaged very easily. Karella is a bitter gourd but I'm not growing it this year. Instead I'm growing tinda gourd and Trichosanthes cucumerina als known as snake gourd.

clumsy, I had no idea it was possible to grow snake gourd in the UK.  can I ask whether it grows in the same conditions as duthi or does it need a greenhouse? 

I grew snake gourd last year in the greenhouse. But I only got one snake gourd off it the weather last year was too cold and damp. Around September last year when it did warm up the plant grew big very quickly I noticed. I got one in the greenhouse and two outside at the moment. I will take pictures when it flowers they look amazing.

I grew Sicilian snake gourds (lagenaria lunghissima) one year, a bit of fun but not very nice to eat the flowers were pretty.  I prefer Tromba d'albenga, (Curcurbita moshata) the fun of a snake but great taste as well. 

Quote from: clumsy on July 02, 2013, 18:20:36
I grew snake gourd last year in the greenhouse. But I only got one snake gourd off it the weather last year was too cold and damp. Around September last year when it did warm up the plant grew big very quickly I noticed. I got one in the greenhouse and two outside at the moment. I will take pictures when it flowers they look amazing.

Thank you.  I look forward to seeing the progress.  I don't have a greenhouse but if the ones you have outside produce anything, I may have a go next year.