http://www.readytogrow.co.uk/seeds/p_Solanum_Muricatum.html
Anyone ever had experience growing this fruit? The produce guy at one of my local grocers gave me 2 of them today simply because I asked about them. They were $2.59 each and he just handed them to me and said take em" even though I had intentions on paying for one so I could get the seeds.
I havent cut them yet so still dont know what they taste like though, the produce guy told me that it tastes like a mix of cassava melon and hondeydew to him. I read someplace that it tasted more like canteloupe.
I am going to try and grow the seeds and see what happens. I already grow 2 other kinds of solanum here so this one shouldn't be a problem for me. Solanum quitoense grows really well for me and produces a lot of fruit. I usually just let those dry on the plant and fall off because even though they are edible you would have to love the taste of cardboard to say that you like it!!
pepino melon
David, I never heard of it; is it in the watermelon family, or the cantaloupe ? What color is it? We had yellow watermelon here last year, but I don't know what they were called. If it was not yellow, it probably would have tasted good, but the yellow color somehow seemed to take the taste out of it for me.
Roz,
It's actually not a melon at all. It's just a small fruit tat will fit right into the palm of your hand.
Click on the link in my original post and you'll see a picture of the fruit and a brief description on how to grow it.
I tasted the fruit but wasn't highly impressed with the flavor of it and am sure glad that the guy gave them to me($2.59 each)and I didn't have to pay for them. Had I paid over $5 for them I would have been greatly disappointed in my purchase.
I have the seeds from both of them drying so I can get them planted soon.
Pepinos (Solanum muricatum) are a quite popular fruit in Chile. As with so many other fruits, there are varieties that are very tasty and others that are not (like melons, etc.)
I would say the ones with more yellow in the skin (and flesh) are the ones with best flavour - at least, that's the ones I buy.
http://images.google.cl/images?q=solanum+muricatum&hl=es
Nice link Ursula. I didn't dislike the flavor but found it to be a taste that I would have to get used to.
I don't know how to describe the taste other than to say if you could dilute the flavor of a canteloupe ,that's what it reminded me of, a very weak canteloupe flavor.. Hope that made sense!!
How good you did not have to pay for it!
You probably were given fruits that were either of a poor variety or harvested unripe for transportation. Did you have the chance to check their origin?
When you come visit me I will make sure to get you some really good pepinos LOL. I will also have you try our Papayas and other 'exotic' fruits.
Hugs,
Ursula
They appeared to be ripe in fact they were bruised so I think that is why he gave them to me. The pulp was not hard but had the firmness of a ripe melon and was a bit grainy in texture like a pear.
I didn't think to check for an origin of the fruit, and the color on it was a nice yellow with a deep purple marbling throughout the entire fruit.
That's the other fact I consider on buying pepinos: no bruised pepinos!
both had just a slight bruise on one end,nothing major but when I cut the first one only a very small part was bruised on the inside. When I cut the second one the entire pulp on the inside was discolored and bad and could not be saved.
I now have my seeds dried and ready to plant,I just need to get some Jiffy seed starter and get them planted and with any luck in about 9 months i'll have fruit producing sized bushes.
That's the problem with bruises on pepinos: they can be small outside, but can have damaged the whole inside if stored long enough.
Good luck with your seeds!
I have never seen one anywhere here. I will start looking for one.
David
i grew them last year & only got a cpl of fruit
but the plants overwintered fine here in So Calif
now i need to prune them & feed them :-)
BTW: the snails & slugs also love the plants
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/67352/index.html
Dick
Dick,
How long did it take you to get the plant to fruit from seed? It also appears that it doesnt make a large plant or do you keep yours pruned?
David
seed in wet paper towel in a plastic baggie in late winter here in SoCalif
so that would be maybe Jan/Feb, by the end of summer i had fruit
that comes out to approx 6 months
they start out like tomato plants growing like weeds
then slowed down, maybe it was me not paying as much attention :-)
i lost a cpl to not watering enough
this was all in pots not in the ground
Dick