Has anyone grown Achocha?

I got some Achocha seeds from the Heritage Seed Library last year and the aphids finished them off, but the ones I put in this year have gone mad. They are taking over the greenhouse, attaching themselves to everything in reach, but haven't had any flowers on yet. Do they take a while to flower? and how big do they actually grow? They are already reaching for the roof. It says the fruits are like small minty tasting cucumbers, but no sign of them yet.

Depends on the summer. If I remember rightly they were late to fruit here, end august/spetember and were quite short vines but it was a fairly cool summer than year. I could't tell if the fruit was ok to eat or not so we never tried them LOL!

I got my seed from the HSL too.

Thanks Baa, I'm getting worried that it is going to take over it must be growing 30 cm a day. Here is a photo of it this morning.

Wow! Ours were pathetic in comparison!

Sad to say I've chopped the Achocha down. It had climbed through the top window vents and was smothering everything in the greenhouse. No fruits had set eventhough it has had flowers on it for ages.

I decided it was taking too much light from everything else in the greenhouse, so if I grow it again it will be outside.

On the seed saving course they had exploding cucumbers which were grown outside and were closely related to the Achocha. A fun plant for children if they don't put their eyes out with the seeds which the pod flings out at great speed.