"cucamelons"?

[Aida]

Has anyone ever grown these?
They are extremely cute, grape-sized watermelons that taste and look like cucumbers on the inside. Supposedly they are "natural" and native to mexico and central america.
https://homegrown-revolution.co.uk/savou ... ucamelons/

They look very, very cool! I wonder how well they would do here in florida.

[PunkRotten]

I have heard of them. They are also called mouse melon and some other name. I almost bought them but heard they don't taste very well, sorta sour and bitter. Plus the seeds are kind of pricey. It is mostly a novelty I think.

[Aida]

D'aww, that's disappointing.

[PunkRotten]

Kinda like that horned melon as well. Looks cool but hear it doesn't taste too well.

[!potatoes!]

please don't just go by what you hear. some people have bland tastes. if the 'cucamelon' is melothria, I've grown/had it a number of times. slightly sour. not noticeably bitter. quite pleasant. decent in salads, etc. maybe some terroir element of you region's soil (or whoever was doing the reviewing), or a very dry season, might bring some more bitterness into the equation.

I've only had super-market horned melon, which is maybe more of an aquired...texture sense. flavor is maybe like a fairly sour kiwi, not bad at all. the eaten part is the goop around the seeds, a texture some folks definitely don't like.

I should caveat: a little bitterness isn't necessarily a bad thing in my book anyway.

[rainbowgardener]

In the comments on the website OP linked, it gives the scientific name as Melothria heterophylla. It looks very cute and the website describes the taste as like cucumber with a hint of lime. But the in the URL it says savoury fruit growing. Savoury (or savory as Americans would say) means not sweet.

If you google Melothria heterophylla, the results that come up (except for the one website posted here) are all about medicinal effects. Apparently it is being evaluated for anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, and hypoglycemic properties.
But searching on mouse cucumber instead, gets more results about eating them. They are described as slightly sour, very crunchy cucumbers: https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/108943/#b

[Aida]

@potatoes-
Thanks for your input! I guess there are a lot of factors that can affect taste, I'm glad that not everyone ended up with bitter and too sour fruits, maybe I will give them a try after all.

@rainbowgardener-
Oh, sorry, I didn't even notice that mistake on there! That was the first place I ever found them, and was just looking for some general opinions from you all on them.
If I do decide on them in the future, I will try to get the mouse melon type and not the other one. Though those medicinal properties are pretty impressive, too.

[kayjay]

Bumping an older thread. Cucamelons came up in conversation on a non-gardening forum that I'm on... I might try growing this. It would be perfect for my small-space climb-the-fence garden. Sounds more resistant to powdery mildew, which was nasty on my plants by late August last year. Seeds are being sold in the UK now. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -time.html

[imafan26]

People in Asian and tropical countries often prefer sourness in their food. It is an acquired taste but with the right combination of ingredients to balance the sweet, salty and sour flavors it can be quite good. I don't think I would try this though, I already have bilimbi, aka pickle fruit, which is sour enough. But it was interesting to hear about this, I never heard of it before. It is very cute though, maybe worthwhile as a novelty.

[ButterflyLady29]

I bought some seeds for those a couple years ago and never got around to getting them planted. Hopefully the seeds are still good. They would be neat growing on my fence.

[theforgottenone1013]

They are also called Mexican Sour Gherkins. I grew them once years ago. Didn't much like them. Way too small (grape sized) with a slight lemony flavor. To me they are nothing more than a novelty to grow every once in a while, not a garden staple.

-Rodney

[applestar]

https://I.dailymail.co.uk/I/pix/2013/03/ ... 34x583.jpg

They are sooo cute! If my kids were still little and I was doing cute things for them, I would grow them and grow fairy gardens in a fairy village, then put these little melons in the fairy garden melon patches for them to find.

[PinkPetalPolygon]

They are sooo cute! If my kids were still little and I was doing cute things for them, I would grow them and grow fairy gardens in a fairy village, then put these little melons in the fairy garden melon patches for them to find.

Aww! I want a fairy garden.

When I learn of anything interesting/new to me I mention it to my husband, and out of all the whacky plants I ever showed him on the internet the ONLY thing he really mentioned wanting were these cucamelons.

If we ever saw them in a store we'd have some! It's good to know they are also called "Mexican Sour Gherkins" - I had never heard of that name before! (I know I have never seen those for sale either, hah)

Maybe we'll get some from the good ol' internet.

[Mr green]

I just bought some at the local nursery, the name is Mexican JungleCuke in Sweden (Mexikansk DjungelGurka.)
Gonna try them this year thanks to some inspiration from here!

[Pennyfarthing]

I grew some this year, boy are they prolific. Yes, I agree, they taste like a cross between melon and cucumber, with a hint of lemon. Dead easy to grow and really tasty , sliced thinly and added to a green salad. I'm going to have a go at pickling them as the 3 plants I have, have produced hundreds.

[eli]

Oh, how sweet they are! But I think that the ratio of pulp to peel would not be okay, I mean that the peel is definitely a bigger part of the fruit. What do you think about it?