How to Grow Cucamelons!
by
LA Murano
1 Material
$3
70 Days
Easy
Every year I try to grow something in my garden that we have never had before. It gives us a chance to try something new that we normally wouldn't have access to. Last year I decided to grow Cucamelons (Melothria scabra).
Cucamelons originally come from Central America. They are fast growing once established and require very little care. Even though cucamelons are pretty common in the southwest, they are still fairly rare up north. While cucamelons may look like some kind of fancy new hybrid, they are not. They look a lot like miniature watermelons, but taste just like cucumbers!
Plant in full sun, spacing seedlings up to a foot apart. Mulch around plants to maintain soil moisture. Provide a trellis for them to grow up. They can get upwards of 6 feet! Cucamelons are drought tolerant though they like to be watered often.
Cucamelons are edible at almost any size, but grape sized is ordeal. Fruit becomes harder and seedy after it reaches about 1" in length...but is still edible. Cucamelons are ready when they pull from the vine easily. Because this is such a high volume producer, you'll have to check for more fruit about every other day. The vines will produce fruit from July till your first frost.
Cucamelons can be eaten plain or used in salads and other fresh vegetable dishes like salsa. I use them in pretty much anything I use cucumbers in. Slice in half and dip in ranch dressing (the kids love this!) You can also substitute cucamelons for the cucumbers in my Almost Famous Cucumber Salad. They're so good and so cute, you'll want to find a million ways to use them!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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2 of 3 comments
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First time I saw them I was amazed. So yummy. Thanks for sharing.
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They sound great. I will be excited to find them. I love cucumbers.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Where can I get the Cucamonga seeds besides online?
Can use them for pickling instead of cucumbers?
I bought seeds from a good brand of seed producers, that came up quickly, eventually planting them out in several sites around the garden. I put two in a large pot on our sunny balcony and gave it a homemade thin rope trellis to climb up. Which it has. I’ve had precisely two cucamelons off it...too soon I think as they tasted just like cucumbers. There are a few more forming but not the dozens I expected! I water it daily as it dries out fast. The second st are growing up a thin post covered in that green pea netting and romped away quickly and across the vine wires I tied in place for them. Again, lots of flowers, two fruit that are not yet ready, and a fair few minuscule ones coming on. Slowly. Third set i am not sure are getting enough sun, but are growing well...but again just tiny fruits.... What am I doing wrong? It said they were slightly drought tolerant but I’ve found that in the heat we’ve had here in northern Portugal they have needed watering as they get really droopy if not! The soil is good, but I’ve not fed them as again I read they didn’t like too much fertiliser. I’m really disappointed so far. Our season is quite long so hopefully more will arrive. Do you have any advice please? Thank you!