Kiwano variety green dragon. Kiwano - growing an exotic fruit from seeds

Unusual exotic fruit Kiwano comes from the African continent. Currently, the plant is grown in other countries, for example: Israel, South America as well as Italy and New Zealand. Because of his unusual look Kiwano fruit is called horned melon - it is very similar to an ordinary small melon, covered with sharp thorns. But still more often it is called African or sweet cucumber, as its pulp resembles the taste of a cucumber and a banana at the same time.

The plant is unpretentious, almost does not get sick, normally tolerates flaws during care and gives a noble harvest of fruits. Many gardeners grow it in their yards. Since the plant looks like a large liana, it looks very nice with vertical gardening and can become a real decoration of the garden.

In addition, the fruits are good for health, help in the treatment of certain diseases. Therefore, do not neglect the opportunity to grow a kiwano in your area or at home. Let's find out more about kiwano fruit, beneficial features, growing at home:

Useful properties of kiwano

pulp exotic fruit has high quality, rich vitamin composition. For example, there are vitamins C, A, as well as almost the entire group B (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9). Is there minerals: magnesium, potassium, calcium, there is also iron, manganese, copper and phosphorus, which is so valuable for the bone system.

The fruits of the African cucumber contain a lot of water, so when they are consumed, water balance. Thanks to high content potassium, the fruits have a beneficial effect on the health of the heart, blood vessels. Kiwano has a great effect on digestion, improves intestinal motility, naturally cleans it from harmful, toxic deposits. In its homeland in Africa, it is used to stop bleeding, as the pulp of the fruit has an astringent effect.

Experts recommend using kiwano for people with excess weight or obese. The thing is, there are only 44 calories per 100 g of fruit pulp. Therefore, they are included in the menu of a variety of diets. They are safe to eat for diabetics. Fruit juice with pulp is recommended to drink during a course of chemotherapy. This will stop the increased hair loss.

The pulp is used by cosmetologists. For example, a mixture of kiwano, bee honey with the addition of sour cream or curdled milk, egg yolk- a wonderful base for a cosmetic mask. With this tool, you can smooth the skin, give it elasticity and freshness.

How to grow kiwano fruit?

It is best to propagate the plant through seedlings. To do this, remove the seeds from a ripe, undamaged fruit. The day before sowing, be sure to place them in an Epin-extra solution or use sodium humate. After that, plant the swollen seeds in a pot with a light, breathable, nutritious soil mixture. The planting depth is approximately 3 cm. Place the pot on a well-lit windowsill, let it stand there for exactly a month, until the time comes to plant the seedlings in a permanent place in the garden.

Plant seedlings in a greenhouse around mid-May. Landing in the ground is possible only after the threat of frost has passed. After planting in a permanent place in the ground, place young plants where there are no drafts, where cold winds do not blow. Kiwano creepers grow very well along the fence, and also weave along the lattice walls of the gazebo.

Be sure to tie young plants to a vertical trellis so that the vine easily braids them. It will look very beautiful when the flowering of the kivano begins, and then the fruiting.

plant care

For good growth, plant development, be sure to loosen the soil around it, weed out the weeds. When it is hot outside, there is little rain, water them often - at least 2-3 times a week.

Feed your plants regularly. This should be done with organic fertilizers (mullein solution, herbal infusion, chicken manure solution) every 10 days. Periodically deposit mineral fertilizers, for example Kemira station wagon. It is diluted with water in a ratio of 2 to 50 g per 10 liters. settled water.

Remove young fruits (ovaries) more often, this stimulates the growth of new fruits. When the growing season is over, remove all the fruits, and lay the grass in the compost. Leave two or three well-ripened fruits for seeds.

Growing at home

If you do not have suitable land for growing these exotic fruits, but really want to enjoy their refreshing taste and beneficial properties, try growing kiwanos at home.

A loggia or balcony is best suited for this. But just a well-lit place in the room will do. Just keep the vine out of direct sunlight. The plant needs diffused light so as not to burn the leaves.

In order for the plant to feel good and comfortable at home in urban housing, plant the plant in a large pot or other container (5-25 liters). Just remember to feed once every two weeks.

For fruits to appear, carry out manual pollination. To do this, use a soft brush to transfer pollen from one flower (male) to the stigma of another (female). It is better to carry out such pollination from morning to noon, since by the evening the female flowers are already fading.

Do not let the leaves burn out, cover the nod from the scorching sun. For this, a regular piece of gauze is suitable. With good, caring care, the plant will gratefully respond to you with beautiful flowering and a good harvest. useful fruits. Good luck, dear flower growers!

Some time ago, people did not think about how to grow kiwano, since this plant was not popular in our regions. But in Lately more and more often we see this product on TV screens and tables.

Kiwano is nothing more than a cucumber, but came to us from Africa. It is considered an exotic fruit, and in appearance it resembles a prickly melon. It has a yellow rind, and inside, the flesh in the form of jelly opens to the eye.

The reason for the popularity of the kiwano

Kiwano gained the greatest popularity when everyone learned about its beneficial properties. The fact is that the benefits of kivano for the human body take place, thanks to the content:

• Vitamin A, B, C,
• carbohydrates,
• proteins,
• fat,
• ash,
• gland,
• calcium,
• zinc,
• potassium,
• magnesium,
• manganese.

As you can see, the list is so rich that it doesn’t take long to explain why we should eat this fruit, and why we need to know how kiwano is grown. To briefly describe the most useful properties of kiwano, it is enough to say the following, the fruit significantly strengthens the human immune system, and gives him necessary set nutrients during the winter period.

A large amount of water and potassium is good for work of cardio-vascular system. Being dietary product, it can be eaten even by the sick diabetes. Dieters can also eat kiwano, enriching the body with vitamins that are so needed during this difficult period.

Fiber, which is part of the kiwano fruit juice, stimulates the work well intestinal tract, and outputs all unnecessary elements.

We grow kivano at home, in the country

Making sure that given plant deserves to be grown at home, let's study the features of this process. After all, after all, this is an exotic product, which means it requires some attention on your part.

Kiwano cultivation at home is carried out mainly by seed. There are other options, but this is considered the most effective. Moreover, the requirements for this process are quite small, which means that even a novice gardener can handle it.

Kiwano (photo)

The process begins about 30 days before the fruit is planted in the garden. Since this procedure is planned somewhere in the middle of spring, it is required to start working with seeds around the beginning of the spring period.

So, growing kiwano from seeds occurs in the following order:

• Kiwano seeds are soaked in a jar containing a solution of "sodium humate" or "epin-extra";
• prepare small pots about ten centimeters in diameter;
• fill each pot with nutrient soil;
• 24 hours after soaking, when the seeds swell, they are sown in pots and placed in a greenhouse, where they should be at least two weeks;
• it is possible to plant a kivano fruit on a garden bed only when there is a guarantee that there will be no frost on the soil, otherwise the plant will not survive;
• when the time has come, we plant all the nodule seedlings in the garden so that there is a distance of at least 40 centimeters between them;
• when choosing a place for a garden bed, you need to know that the kivano does not like to hit a direct sunlight, although it is a native of Africa;
• avoid planting the plant in a draft, this will also lead to its death;
• the fruit loves soil that is porous and breathable;
• remember that kivano does not like drought, but also does not tolerate excessive moisture;
• for the plant to grow and develop properly, tie each sprout to a peg vertically;
• it is important not only to plant a kiwano correctly, but also to create right conditions care.

Caring for the Kiwano, an African miracle

Data Care Requirements exotic plant aimed at creating the most comfortable conditions for growth and development. This will ensure you get a good and regular harvest in the future. There are some nuances that you should pay attention to:

The mode of watering the fruit must be set so that the earth around it does not dry out, but is not constantly wet. Kiwano does not like swamps. The approximate frequency of watering is twice a week, but it happens more often in the case of a dry summer.

The bed where it grows cucumber(kiwano) must be constantly loosened, both before and after watering. This will ensure the flow of air and water to the root system of the plant. In addition, weeding allows you to remove all weed plants in the garden, and this significantly improves the condition of the fruit.

The plant is very good at feeding. In this case, it is necessary to constantly alternate fertilizers with mineral composition and organic. The use of mullein, chicken manure or herbal infusion has a very positive effect on the development of cucumber. It is also recommended to use all kinds of trace elements for foliar feeding.

Watch for the appearance of pests, and respond to such attacks in time with the use of appropriate preparations. If your plants have grown strongly, then you must definitely pinch the extra shoots. Also, watch for the appearance of barren flowers and remove them in time, as they only take extra strength from the plant.

During the harvest period, it is required to remove ripe cucumbers every two days to allow new fruits to appear. After the ripening has stopped, you need to collect all the cucumbers, and yourself plants used as compost.

As you can see, there is nothing particularly difficult in growing Kiwano and caring for this exotic plant. A little attention is enough and you will get a great useful fruit on your desk. In appearance, the fruits are more capricious than they really are in life.

Kiwano is an exotic fruit native to Africa. The plant belongs to the herbaceous vines of the Pumpkin family and the species of the Cucumber genus. Outwardly, a plant with flowers and fruits really look like this vegetable. Liana grows up to 3 meters in length, the leaves are large green, slightly dissected. Flowering kiwano begins in the summer, the flowers are yellow, open in the morning until noon. The fruits are oval, similar to a melon or an overripe cucumber, only with soft spines. Inside is a jelly-like green pulp with numerous pale green seeds. Kiwano tastes like a mixture of cucumber and banana. The peel is leathery and sinewy, with soft spines, green in unripe fruits, gradually becoming yellow, reddish or orange in the process of ripening. Fruits grow up to 15 cm in length and weigh from 60 to 350 g.

Other names for kiwano: milano, false anguria, Antillean or African cucumber, jelly or horned melon. Today, this plant is widely grown in Central America, Israel, the United States and New Zealand.

Kiwano successfully grows in countries with a tropical climate and does not tolerate sub-zero temperatures at all. Russian breeders have bred the Green Dragon variety, which is well adapted to the Russian climate and quickly begins to bear fruit. Already 75 days after the emergence of sprouts, you can harvest the first crop.

Benefit and harm

Kiwano has a lot of vitamins, A, C, groups P and B, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, contains carbohydrates, proteins and fats, iron, manganese, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, salts and organic acids. In one fruit, 89% of water, 100 g of kiwano contain 45 kcal.

Health Benefits of Kiwano:

• lowers arterial pressure needed for hypertension. Regular use eating fruit protects against myocardial infarction and rheumatism;
• reduces the amount of sugar in the blood, which is especially important for people with diabetes;
• thins the blood a large number water in the pulp;
• removes radionuclides, slags and toxins from the body;
• restores the balance of water and salt, saturating the cells of the body with essential substances, oxygen and moisture;
• prevents aging and formation cancerous tumors;
• stimulates digestion thanks to dietary fiber, which are part of the fruit and envelop the walls of the stomach and intestines, contributing to their regeneration;
• useful for weight loss, saturates the body with important elements for it and promotes the breakdown of fats;
• strengthens the immune system and joints;
• increases hemoglobin in the blood, increasing the number of red blood cells;
• helps with insomnia, for this juice is mixed with honey and drunk at night.

The fruits have the following properties:

• soothing
• antiseptic
• anti-inflammatory
• cleansing
• immunomodulatory
• healing

In cosmetology, fruit is used to make masks that tighten and tone the skin of the face and body, make scrubs and peels.

There are no contraindications to the use of the fetus, except for an allergic reaction of the body. It should be remembered that for us it is an exotic fruit and for the body it is new food, which you need to try a little and monitor the reaction.

Mask for the face

Remove the pulp from 1 Kiwano fruit and mix with honey. You can use yogurt or sour cream. ready mix apply on face for a few minutes, then rinse warm water.

Application in medicine

Fruit juice is used as a sedative, it is very useful to drink it for people suffering from insomnia. The fruit has a positive effect on intestinal motility, is used externally in the treatment of burns and open wounds, and helps stop bleeding. Kiwano renders therapeutic effect with anemia, tuberculosis, atherosclerosis, bronchitis and gout. During chemotherapy, fruit juice is very useful, which helps to some extent protect the body from a side effect of this procedure - hair loss.

Application in cooking

Kiwano is eaten raw, salads are prepared from it, which are seasoned with lemon juice, pepper and salt. Fruits are added to ice cream, sherbet, cottage cheese desserts. Young fruits are salted and canned like cucumbers. Kiwano is suitable for making cereals, soups and side dishes.

The fruit goes well with yoghurts, creams, milkshakes, berries, vegetables, fish and meat dishes. Very tasty sauces, jams, compotes and desserts are obtained from Kiwano. You can expose the fruits heat treatment and pickle. Fruit juice is mixed with orange and lemon, whipped in a mixer and served in a glass of fruit skin. In the homeland of this fruit, the most popular dish- seafood appetizer with cheese and kiwano.

Interesting appearance fruits are used to decorate dishes and holiday tables. When serving, the fruit can be cut into slices or circles, put the pulp in a glass of the skin, decorating with berries.

Sherbet with kiwano

Ingredients:

• 3 oranges;
• 2 tbsp. l. cherry liqueur;
• 150 g pineapple yogurt;
• 180 g of condensed milk or cream;
• 3 nod fruit.

Cooking:

1. Squeeze the juice from oranges and strain, add liquor, yogurt and condensed milk.
2. Put the mass overnight in cool place, covering with gauze folded in 3 layers.
3. Add the pulp of kiwano, mix and put in the freezer for a day.
4. For the first 2-3 hours, beat the mass with a mixer or a whisk so that lumps do not form in the sherbet.
5. Ready dessert put in glasses, decorate with cream, berries or fruits.

Kiwano sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 limes;
• 1 nod;
• 1 lemon;
• a clove of garlic;
• salt pepper;
• 1 tsp mustard;
• 1.5 st. l. olive oils.

Cooking:

1. Peel the limes, kiwanos and lemons.
2. Grind the fruits in a meat grinder and squeeze the mass through gauze.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste, crushed garlic, oil and mustard to the juice, mix well.
4. Bring the mass to a boil and put in the freezer for a while.

The sauce gives dishes an exotic taste and aroma, use it as a marinade or serve with meat and fish.

How to choose and eat kiwano

When choosing exotic fruits, you must be very careful not to buy spoiled or unripe ones. When choosing a kiwano, you need to remember the following recommendations:

• buy medium-sized fruits;
• ripe fruit saturated orange color with marble splashes;
• the peel should not have dark brown spots and damage;
• the fruit should be elastic to the touch;
• mature fruit has yellow spikes.

If the kiwano did not have time to ripen and you purchased a green fruit, do not worry, it will ripen on its own in a few days.

If you are trying these fruits for the first time, you will have a question, how to eat them? The peel of the kiwano is inedible, often used as a plate on which the pulp is laid out. The pulp of the fruit is very tender and cannot be separated from the peel like, for example, an orange. Usually the fruit is cut into two parts and the contents are eaten with a spoon. You can add sugar or salt to taste.

Growing at home

If you have a ripe Kiwano fruit in your hands, you can save the seeds and plant them in late April or early May. A plant can take root well in an apartment and in a garden, if it is planted and created correctly the necessary conditions. It is necessary to remove the bones only from a well-ripened fruit. Choose large and whole seeds.

Planting kiwano seeds consists of several stages:

• soak the seeds in a solution of sodium humate, you can use the fertilizer "Epin-extra";
• when the seeds swell, put them in a warm place for 3 days until they hatch, this will increase the chance of germination;
• plant the seeds to a depth of 3.5 cm in loose, nutritious soil, which can be purchased at a flower shop. Capacity for planting should be no more than 10 cm in diameter;
• cover the pot with foil, when the seeds sprout, it must be removed. Water the seedlings regularly.

Care and transplantation in open ground

During cultivation, it is necessary to follow some rules for caring for the plant:

• keep the temperature at 25 degrees;
• provide the plant with a long daylight hours using fluorescent lamps;
• protect the nod from direct sunlight to avoid burns;
• keep the soil moist and loosen regularly.

After 4 weeks, you can transplant Kiwano into open ground. To protect a young plant from the cold, you can create a greenhouse for it. The plant needs a lot of space because it grows and spreads quickly. It is preferable to plant it along fences or walls on flat surface, on the territory of a windless warm place. No more than 2 bushes should be planted per 1 m2. The planting hole should be 40 x 35 cm in size. The nodule root system is poorly developed and located superficially, does not withstand drought and stagnant water. A big advantage is the good resistance of the plant to pests and diseases.

Watering the plant is carried out 2-3 times a week, if the weather is not very hot. If it is very hot, you need to water every day. It is advisable to do this before sunrise or after sunset. In the area where the kiwano grows, there should be no weeds, weed the soil regularly. When the ground is covered with a crust, loosen, in the early morning or evening.

If the soil is very overheated or supercooled during the day, carry out hilling. This will protect the roots from hypothermia and overheating, and help retain moisture in the ground. For a good harvest, be sure to pinch, removing side shoots. Bushes are formed in the shape of a circle or allowed to stretch in one continuous line.

Be sure to fertilize the soil, apply mineral and organic fertilizers so that the kiwano grows faster and gains right amount green mass. From organic, an infusion of chicken manure, mullein or grass is suitable. From mineral it is better to use complex fertilizers. It is necessary to carry out top dressing every 10 days, alternating mineral and organic fertilizers so that the plant does not starve.

If the kiwano has a support, tie the main stem vertically so that the main mass grows upwards, this will help save space around. You can use cucumber mesh. When growing in a greenhouse, you can’t do without a garter, otherwise the plant will spread very much. Kiwano makes a very beautiful hedge, decorated with bright fruits.

Harvesting and storage

Kiwano is harvested in August, when the fruits acquire yellow. Such fruits are well stored, but the taste leaves much to be desired. If you want to receive delicious harvest, start harvesting when the kiwanos are a bright orange hue. After harvesting, the plant produces more fruits. With a proper harvest from one kiwano growing in a greenhouse, you can collect up to 200 fruits per season. To be good harvest, it is necessary to remove the grown greens in time and immediately pinch the vine to limit the growth of shoots with male flowers.

The crop is stored up to 6 months, while it does not need to be frozen or placed in the refrigerator. If you want to stock up on fruits for the winter, they can be preserved with salt or sugar. Such blanks will benefit the body in the cold, saturate useful substances and decorate the table for the holidays.

Kiwano

Kiwano - a fashionable relative of the cucumber

Among the edible cucurbits, kiwano has recently become widely known ( C uc um is me tuliferus), or, as it is also incorrectly called, anguria (this is a different species- C uc um is an guria). The plant has several other names: Antillean cucumber, horned, or jelly, melon. Kiwano is a close relative of the cucumber. Its green fruits have a "calico" shirt, outwardly similar to a cucumber with large spikes, a specific cucumber aroma and a lemon flavor. When ripe, the fruits become bright orange. Kiwano pulp flavor combines kiwi, banana and lemon flavors with a melon flavor. A plant of South American and Asian origin. Edible forms and varieties are widespread in many countries of Central and South Africa, Europe, and North America.

What is it, a nod plant

The plant is unusually decorative. It is a curly, strongly branching liana with thin, fragile, furrowed stems, which reaches 3-5 m in length under favorable conditions. Leaves are three-five-parted with hard pubescence. The roots are weak, the flowers are small yellow, numerous. Fruits on long stalks, oval, green, the size of an orange, covered with tubercles, usually turn yellow by seed ripeness. In some forms, the fruits have large tubercles, on which black spikes form. The color of the fruit is very diverse and beautiful. The seeds are small, flat, cream-colored, remain viable for up to 7 years.

How is Kiwano used?

Its fruits are edible and medicinal properties. They are rich ascorbic acid, P-active substances, contain alkaline mineral salts, organic acids and sugars.

Young ovaries at 5-7 days of age are salted and preserved like cucumbers. Pickled fruits are considered a delicacy and deservedly compete with similarly prepared gherkins and cucumber pickles. At a later age, the fruits increase markedly in size, it is these that are stored in fresh very long at room temperature- almost until spring. The thorns, though large, are soft, the bark is thick, but loose, the edible inner part of the fruit remains greenish, acquiring a refreshing sweet and sour taste.

Ripe fruits are cut in half and the contents are scooped out with a spoon. From this mass is prepared fruit and vegetable cocktails, add it to salads with fish and cheese. Kiwano juice has an astringent property, due to which it is used in folk medicine for wound healing. Kiwano fruits contain substances that strengthen the walls blood vessels, removing toxins and radionuclides from the body, increasing immunity. These fruits are recommended for diet food patients with cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. In cosmetics, face masks are made from kiwano juice mixed with yogurt and honey.

What you need to know about the properties of the kiwano plant for those who are going to grow it

It is less demanding on soil fertility than cucumber, but prefers good drainage and nutrient availability. It is a short-day plant, photophilous and heat-loving, does not tolerate frost, and temperatures below 12 ° C, growing in shaded and acidic areas retard its growth and development. Optimum temperature for kiwano 25°C . IN favorable years its fruits ripen in the open ground of the Central region of Russia.

Unlike other cucurbits, it is resistant to many harmful diseases and is almost not damaged by pests. Propagated by seeds, cuttings and seedlings.

In the State Register of Breeding Achievements, the first domestic variety of Kiwano is registered, which can be grown in private farms both in open and protected ground. This Green Dragon - an annual dioecious plant with a growing season from germination to fruit ripeness of 75-77 days. Creeping stems 3 m long. Leaves slightly dissected, green. Fruits are oval with a tuberculate surface, light green when unripe and yellow when ripe, weighing an average of 150 g, stored after removal up to 6 months. Productivity with a planting pattern of 40x35 cm- 3.6 kg from 1 m2.

Kivano in central Russia

Best of all through seedlings. Seeds for seedlings should be sown a month before planting in a permanent place (at the end of April- early May). The day before sowing, they are soaked in a solution of epin-extra or sodium humate. The swollen seeds are immediately placed in a pot with a diameter of 8-10 cm, filled with a light nutrient soil mixture, to a depth of 3 cm.

Seedlings can be planted in a greenhouse or under a wall in the middle or at the end of May, in open ground- only after the frost period has passed. In a greenhouse, kivano is planted in 2 rows with a distance between rows of 40 cm, and between plants in a row of 35-40 cm. In open ground, it should be placed in places protected from the cold wind, along a mesh fence, buildings or arbors (the optimal distance between plants while 50-80 cm). Seedlings must be tied with twine to a vertical trellis and periodically twisted around it as the main stem grows clockwise. Kiwano grows quickly and looks very impressive during flowering and fruiting. When caring for plants, it is important to loosen the soil around them, weed regularly, and in hot and dry summers- water 2-3 times a week.

Kiwano plants are very responsive to fertilizing, which should be carried out regularly, every 10-12 days with mullein or grass infusion diluted with water in a ratio of 1:5 (or chicken droppings).- 1:15). It is better to alternate organic top dressing with mineral ones, using complex mineral fertilizers ( Kemira wagon-2 - 50 g per 10 liters of water). Useful foliar top dressing on the leaves with any complex fertilizer with trace elements at a concentration of an aqueous solution of not more than 0.25%.

With a strong thickening, the side shoots are pinched on the ovary (those with an empty flower- male flowers,- can be completely cut). Young ovaries at the age of 4-7 days are removed in a day or two. The sooner they are harvested, the faster new fruits grow. Several fruits are left on the seeds until fully ripe. At the end of the growing season, all the fruits are harvested, and the plants are laid in compost.

Do you want to grow a kiwano on a loggia, balcony or indoors?

To do this, it is best to use a container of 5-25 liters, and also provide for manual pollination of flowers, transferring pollen from male plants to the stigma of female plants with a brush. Female flowers open early in the morning and wither by evening, so pollination is best done from morning to 12 noon, while the pollen is viable. Although the kivano is light-requiring, in spring and summer, with the bright sun on the window, its leaves burn out- on such days they should be shaded with gauze or a mosquito net.

A. Lebedeva , Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Moscow

Growing Kiwano at home

5 (100%) 1 vote

Kiwano - unusual fruit from the pumpkin family. Known as horned melon or African cucumber. Used as a fruit or vegetable, and sometimes kiwano is grown as an ornamental annual vine. Juicy pulp has a jelly-like texture. The taste is similar to banana, cucumber and melon at the same time. Interestingly, "horned melon" can be used in both sweet and savory dishes.

- a heat-loving plant, does not tolerate even a slight cold snap. Growing at home is possible only with very careful care. Kiwano is actively cultivated in Israel, New Zealand. Most endemic varieties do not survive in middle lane, but there are specially adapted species. For nod optimal way to get the fruit is to grow it from seeds on your plot.

Description of the fruit

Kiwano is an annual herbaceous vine, part of the cucumber genus. It grows rapidly, the length of the shoots is 3-6 meters. It is bred for edible fruits and as an ornamental plant. The birthplace of the fruit is Africa. How a vegetable is grown in South America. In Israel, New Zealand, Italy, it is a fruit.

Kiwano fruit resembles a melon with spikes up to 15 centimeters long, weight - up to 150 grams. Outwardly, it looks like a yellow-orange fruit with a jelly-like pulp of light green color, and inside - white seeds, like a cucumber. The hard skin is inedible, covered with rare spines. ripe fruit elastic to the touch, the spines are flexible, soft: they are not able to scratch the hands. In mature fruits, the peel has a characteristic cucumber aroma with hints of lemon. The taste combines notes of cucumber, banana, kiwi, melon.

Dense foliage can be used as an impromptu backstage for other plants. Liana can be put on a fence or as an unusual landscaping for a veranda, a forged metal gazebo.

How do you eat kiwanos?

"Horned melon" is eaten raw, added to salty salads, desserts, fruit drinks. Prepared from it original jam, jam, canned juice. The ovary, 3-4 days old, can be pickled like cucumbers. The fruit sometimes causes allergies, so the first time you should try it carefully.

Fresh kiwano is recommended to be eaten immediately after it has been plucked. This ensures maximum safety of vitamins C and PP. The pulp should be selected with a spoon, and the seeds should be collected and dried. Seed material retains good germination up to 7 years.

reproduction

Growing kiwanos in temperate climates is easy and fun. The variety "Green Dragon" was developed, designed specifically for not the most favorable weather conditions. It is an annual vine resistant to diseases, major pests. Important feature varieties - the plant bears fruit regardless of the length of daylight hours. Unlike cucumbers, there are no special varieties for growing in greenhouses. When bred indoors, kivano has to be pollinated artificially, with a brush.

At home, "African cucumber" has 3 methods of reproduction:

• cuttings;
• seeds;
• seedlings.

It is easiest to grow a kiwano from seeds. You need to buy a ripe fruit, choose planting material with a spoon, and eat the pulp with pleasure. Even easier is to buy ready-made seeds that do not require special preparation. African cucumber can grow outdoors or as indoor plant in a pot.

Landing

In temperate climates, kiwanos are grown in seedlings. When planted immediately in open ground, plants will die during a sharp cold snap. The grown shoots can be planted in May, after the end of frosts, on a site specially designated for exotic.

How to grow a kiwano yourself:

1. Preparation. For a day, the seeds are soaked in aqueous solution"Epina Extra" or succinic acid. This will speed up germination. Seeds must pre-swell. If they are collected from ripe fruit, they must be wrapped in cotton cloth, poured with water. The skin of the seeds will become soft, which means they are ready for planting.
2. Germination. Seeds are planted in pots with a diameter of 10 centimeters with a nutritious soil mixture. Planting material is buried 3 centimeters into the ground, moderately watered. The pots are covered with foil or glass. The soil should be moderately moist and loose. The optimum temperature for germination is 25°C.
3. Landing in a greenhouse. Hatched seedlings with 2 true leaves are transplanted into a greenhouse. The process of growing seedlings before moving to open ground takes approximately 31 days, of which in a greenhouse - up to 14 days.

Planting in open ground is carried out only after the end of spring frosts. Temperatures lower than + 10 ° C are detrimental to nods. A full growing cycle takes 75-77 days. The minimum temperature is from + 15°C. The plant does not tolerate temperatures below 0 ° C, the seedlings will die in the soil.

Landing rules:

• the site should be bright, protected from drafts and cold wind (the plant bears fruit well if it is under direct sunbeams no less than 6-7 hours every day);
• kiwano does not grow well in shady areas, acidic soils are not suitable;
• it is recommended to plant vines in 2 rows, at a distance of at least 1 meter from each other (you will need a place for the active growth of shoots);
• this is a climbing plant: support is required in advance, on which the shoots are fixed with twine (it is good to plant near the fence as decorative landscaping);
• drainage is needed to prevent stagnant moisture in the soil.

After planting in open ground, it is advisable to immediately tie a young vine to a support. When growing in a pot, you will also need a vertical stand. Kiwano is immune to most diseases that are dangerous for the pumpkin family. Since this is not an endemic plant, pest attacks can not be feared.

For closed ground, you will need a container with a volume of up to 20 liters. Liana can be placed on a balcony or insulated veranda.

Care

Exotic Kiwano does not require complex care when grown at home. The only danger for him is sudden changes in temperature. In such a situation, it is better to cultivate the plant as indoor, in pots. The main stages of caring for a liana include watering, regular loosening of the soil, fertilizing, which forms the pinching of shoots.

A growing stem is recommended to be regularly twisted onto a support. Do this only in a clockwise direction. For this purpose, it is good to use a cucumber net. On it, long lashes will curl freely like an ornamental plant. At proper care Kiwano bears fruit abundantly, regardless of the length of daylight hours.

Watering

The plant needs regular watering, the surface of the soil must be constantly wet. In dry weather, it is recommended to do this at least 2-3 times a week. The soil will need regular loosening, weeding.

top dressing

For horned melon to look good and bear fruit abundantly, a lot of nutrients are required. Once a 3 weeks is recommended to make:

• organic fertilizers (mullein, chicken manure as root dressing every 10-12 days, recommended ratio with water: 1:15);
• complex mineral supplements, for example, "Kemira Universal-2" (added to the soil: 50 grams per 10 liters of water).

Foliar mineral supplements have a good effect.

Topping

Periodic pinching of shoots will be needed if the vine grows too densely. Side stems should be removed. The entire barren flower is removed so as not to interfere with the formation of the ovary.

Harvesting

Horned melon begins to bloom 1-2 months after germination. The first 4-5 days, the ovary should be pinched to get a bountiful harvest. Ripe fruits should be removed from the vine after 1-2 days. This should be done as often as possible to stimulate the maturation of new ovaries. Optimally - once every 2-3 days. As soon as the growing season is over, all the fruits must be harvested, the green mass cut off with secateurs and laid in compost.