Kiwano - African Horned Cucumber

Bought tongue depressor sticks at the dollar store, thinking they'd make great plant labeling stakes. Seeded trays, wrote on the sticks with sharpie. Watering blurred the names beyond recognition. I ended up planting various plants throughout my garden - no idea what they were. Planted this one at the end of a green bean trellis. This mystery plant showed up at the end of season. One day I noticed small strange looking "berries" on it. I decided to try one and found it VERY TASTY. Nutty texture yet refreshingly - like a cucumber. BE SURE TO TRY THEM YOUNG!! Not sour. The spines on the small fruit feel prickly to the touch but strangely have no prickliness on the tongue. I searched the web (including this site) trying to figure out what they were. Found nothing recognizable. Today I found much larger fruit - still green - still tasty. Just figured out what they are. Sept 30th - Hopefully some will ripen before frost. Will try to root a cutting and houseplant vine over winter.

Very surprising. Just two vines, over EIGHT HUNDRED fruit! But those vines grew over everything. If I grow these again, I will find a long, tall fence for it. They love heat; several hundred-plus degrees days, didn't even wilt. Very drought tolerant, but I will state that my growing area is very heavily mulched.The vines have prickly hairs, so wear gloves and long sleeves; very itchy. If you have young boys, consider wisely. The fruit have very pointy spikes. I can easily see these being weapons during war games. I have a brother; trust me on this. Chickens LOVED them, overripe and all. Women more than men LOVED the flavor. Go figure. Can be harvest green or left on the vine to ripen. They store about 60 to 90 days if kept cool and out of the sun; points dry off after about 30 days. Very juicy; Great for juicing and smoothies. Generated a lot of interest at the farmers' market. For reference, they are shipped in to the grocery store and sell for $4.99 EACH!!!!

I tried three times to grow these. The first time I started indoors, but plant failed immediately after transplant. The second time, I started them outside, but they didn't even form fruit before the first frost. The third time, I did manage to get two healthy plants that did form fruit, but again, no where near ready to harvest before the first frost hit. I think Denver's growing season is too short, nights are too cool. The year I almost got a crop was 2016, which had a long hot summer, and the first freeze didn't happen until November. This is as good as it gets here, so I won't try these again.

The melons tasted good with a hard to describe different flavor, slightly tart. When the warm weather hit it grew like crazy. The first fruit didn't show until august and I'm still waiting to see if they will fully ripen on the vine before the first frost. Snuck a couple to try when they started turning yellow. If I lived where the growing season were a month longer, then I know I would have had enough production to make it worthwhile, as it was, I will not be growing this again. Just can't spare the room for less than a dozen fruits.Also figure on wearing gloves when around this, the vines have lots of bristles on the stems.

First time growing these cute Lil Rund. I have 3 vines down a chain link fence. Put a marker where you plant!!. So you won't just water random parts if the vine!. I'm in CENTRAL TEXAS. about 2-1\2 hrs from the people below having a hard time starting them. Start indoors, sunny window or greenhouse, transplant outdoors after frost. I started mine here in March. I was worried about the vine . You have to really watch when it does start it will be all over ground. Train it. !! The leaves are scratchy for sure. Not as bad as Naranjilla!!. The spines are on the fruit. Horned cucumber... We are excited about this because we juice and definitely does well in smoothies as its consistency is a jello texture. Water water !! We're in Texas 101- for about a month. I water morning early candy late evening.