Pepino (photo) growing fruit at home
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Pepino or melon pear - fruit growing and fruit benefits
Despite the tropical origin, it is not difficult to grow pepino!
How diverse is the family of Solanaceae! Here is another of his unusual representatives. Meet: pepin or melon pear.
About Pepino Culture
Along with potatoes and tomatoes, Europeans brought from America (or more precisely, from Peru) a unique plant. It is a perennial evergreen shrub pepino.
It grows up to 1,5-2 m in height. Its leaves are oblong, shiny, quite like that of Bulgarian pepper. Inflorescences resemble potato. The fruits are round, with a diameter from 5 to 15 cm, weighing up to 700 g, with a juicy fragrant pulp. They come in different colors, but more often they are light yellow with purple stripes. To taste sweet and sour, reminiscent of a mixture of melons, pears, cucumbers and strawberries. In the center of each fruit there are many small seeds.
See also: Rough melotria (photo) - planting and care
About the benefit of Pepino
Remove the fruit from the bushes in the early stages of ripeness. Prepare from them fruit salads, desserts, jams, compotes, add them to the first and second dishes, as well as salt, marinate, dry or store in a frozen form. In fresh form pepino can be stored in the refrigerator, without losing flavor, up to 3-4 months. The skin and seeds of the fetus have a specific taste, so it is recommended to cleanse the flesh before consumption.
Fruits are considered very useful because of the increased content of vitamins A, B, C, PP, as well as iron and pectin. In folk medicine, pulp is used to treat skin diseases and respiratory tract infections. Because of the low sugar content, pepino is recommended for people with diabetes and rheumatism.
Cultivation of pepino
Because of the climate in Russia, pepino is grown in indoor conditions, in greenhouses, in greenhouses. Culture does not tolerate negative temperatures. In spring (from the end of February) for plants include additional lighting, increasing the light day to 16-18 h.
During the vegetation period, pepino should be fed with a weak solution of complex fertilizers (10 g superphosphate, nitrate and potassium sulfate per 10 l water) every 1-2 weeks. Shrubs are usually formed in 1-3 shoots, cutting off some side branches (stepchings like tomatoes). Adult plants, burdened with fruits, tie up.
Fruiting of fruit
In the absence of insects, pepinos are pollinated manually with a brush, or gently brushing off the flowers. In late March - early April, the fruits begin to set in the bushes. They grow for a long time (up to six months) and mature at different times for 2 months.
Bushes that have finished bearing, enter a dormant period. They need to trim by shortening the shoots by three quarters. Then take the pepino to a cool room (for example, to a glazed loggia with a temperature of 4-6 °). After a couple of months, when the wintering is over, bring the bushes back into the house and transplant them into new soil.
Propagation of pepino seeds
The culture is well propagated by seeds. They can be bought or removed from a ripe fruit. In late January - early February, spread the seeds on a damp paper towel, place in a transparent glass jar, close tightly and put in a dark place with a temperature of 26-28 °.
Through 1-1,5 weeks the seeds will be pierced. As soon as this happens, move the jar to the lighted window sill. And after uncovering the cotyledons, dive the seedlings together with pieces of napkins into pots with fertile loose soil. At first, keep the seedlings under small guys from plastic bags.
Reference by topic: Which exotic plants can be grown in the garden
Cuttings of fruit at home
Propagate pepino and cuttings. To do this, in February, cut branches from 6 to 8 leaves from the bush and place them in moist soil. Remove the lower pair of leaves, and shorten all the upper ones. Covering with packages, put the cuttings in the shade. When they take root, remove the bags and transfer the plants to a lighted place.
Pepino from the cuttings begin to bear fruit earlier than the seedlings (in July-August). And if you transplant them in the spring on the garden, you can get the ripened harvest and in the open ground. Plants, of course, will die with the first frosts, so warm the plant well and cover the plant with a nonwoven material or lapnika.
Unlike many tropical crops, Pepin in care is not a finicky plant at all. According to experienced gardeners, it is not harder to grow than domestic hot peppers.
© Author: Elena Paramonova, Astrakhan
PEPINO GROWING - PLANTING AND CARE. REVIEWS AND TIPS OF GARDENERS
Melon Pear Comes Long
I would like to know about such a plant as the pepino melon pear. Should I try to grow it?
Oleg YULDASHEV
Melon pear, or pepino or sweet cucumber is an evergreen (in the homeland or in the greenhouse) shrub of the nightshade family. The birthplace of this plant is South America (Peru. Argentina). Since the XNUMXth century it has been cultivated in Europe. Our melon pear was grown in the pre-revolutionary period. Again, interest in this plant in our country arose at the end of the XNUMXth century.
Currently, about 30 varieties of this plant are known, but only two are officially registered so far: Consuelo and Ramses. Outwardly, the plant resembles both potatoes and tomatoes at the same time. Depending on the variety, the fruits can be round, cylindrical, heart-shaped, elongated-oval. The skin is yellow or orange with purple stripes. There are very few or no seeds inside the seed chamber. The pulp consistency resembles a pear, in ripe fruits it is juicy, melting in the mouth. The taste can be either sweet or neutral, resembling a melon, cucumber or zucchini, but always with a light or, conversely, pronounced melon aroma.
Pepino seeds are planted in seedlings in January-February, since toni usually have poor germination. Caring for this plant (including planting dates in a greenhouse or in open ground) is identical to caring for tomatoes. The optimum temperature at which the plant bears fruit well should not be higher than 27 ° and not lower than 18 °. Therefore, when planting in open ground in the northern regions, you need to choose the sunniest, most sheltered places for pepino, and slightly shaded in the southern. If the melon pear does not have enough light and heat, then its fruits will grow fresh, like a zucchini or a cucumber. The first fruits are tied in May-June, the second wave of fruit formation occurs in late August - early September.
You can propagate the plant by the method of cuttings. To do this, cut the bush in the fall to half, dig out with the root and keep it in the cellar or basement (be sure to make sure that the roots do not dry out). In February, the plant is placed in a room on a lighted place, drink and feed. Emerging young shoots are cut and rooted in water, then planted in boxes and then do the same as with tomato seedlings.
PEPINO IN MOSCOW REGION
I read two publications about Pepino at once. In one, Elena Vladimirovna Savinova from the Moscow Region talks about her negative experience in growing this exotic. Another author, Tatyana Aleksandrovna Makushina from Yekaterinburg, lovingly tells how she grew pepino from seeds brought from Paris.
Despite the fact that her experiment was also not crowned with great success, I reacted with great interest to her article. Like many readers, I wish her good health!
My site is located in the Moscow region. He is already 30 years old. What have I not grown over the years on my land! But a separate article in my farm is the plants that are not very typical for growing in the Middle Lane.
Pepino is one of them. I grew the Ramses variety and, unfortunately, also did not wait for the full ripeness of the fruits to appreciate the taste of this nightshade crop.
But a bad result is also a result. After realizing my mistake (sowing the seeds late), I want to go back to trying to grow pepino again. And taking into account the fact that I am a gardener and gardener "a little crazy", I hope I will succeed. I want to share my photos of Pepino and wish good luck to all who are in love with their beautiful summer cottage!
© Author: Irina KOZLOVA, Volokolamsk
SEEDING AND PIKING PEPINO: VIDEO
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Pepino, or melon pear, first saw on the shelf in the supermarket, bought a couple of fruits. I decided to grow an exotic plant from seeds.
I collected them, dried them on the windowsill, and sown them for seedlings at the end of February.
In early May, she planted seedlings in a polycarbonate greenhouse for peppers and eggplants.
Two weeks after planting, the seedlings were fed with a solution of herbal mash (1:10), and at the beginning of fruiting, sprayed with a solution of Kemira Lux (1 g per 1 liter of water).
Regularly watered, mulched with hay.
By the time the first fruits were set on the peppers and eggplants, the pepino bushes more than a meter high gave out only lush foliage. To stimulate the plants, she cut the leaves to a level of 50 cm from the ground and tied the bushes to stakes. After some time, I noticed flowers that resemble potato. Many fruits were set. When they turned yellow, I collected it. The aroma from the cut pepinos was simply incredible, but the sweetness that I expected was not. But the fruit made a very tasty jam. Everyone she gave to taste was sure that it was made from a honey pear.
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The opportunity to grow pepino appeared when I installed a greenhouse. Since then, this perennial plant gives me fruits with exotic taste and melon flavor.
SOWING SEEDS
Ramsay seeds sowed in late November. Pre-soaked them for the night in a warm solution of "Epin" (can be in "Zircon"). Then I spread it on gauze, folded in several layers and dipped in the same stimulator, and put it in a plastic bag on the sunny window-sill. For germination, recommend dosvetku, but I did without it. Expecting seedlings, airing the crops, moistening the drying cloth, maintaining the temperature of about + 28-30 degree. Of the five seeds, there were two. They planted the seedlings in separate cups, covered them with foil and put them on a light window. Air, watered.
Now I multiply perennial shoots with a pair of air roots formed on them: I put them in a pot and after a couple of weeks I get a strong seedling.
In the GREENHOUSE
Plant the seedlings in the greenhouse from February to May. I try to do this as soon as possible, but on condition that it is warm enough, since even small frosts can kill seedlings.
Agrotechnics of cultivation of exot is the same as for tomatoes.
Pepino grows up to 2 m height, form it in 1-2 stalk. Fruits begin to be tied up from the middle of August. At the end of summer, I transplanted the plant into a large pot and transferred it to a bright warm room.
The juicy sweet-sour pulp of the fruit of a melon pear is rich in vitamins A and C. I eat it fresh, I prepare jam, desserts.
To prevent the occurrence of ticks and aphids, prophylaxis with appropriate drugs - once in 1-1,5 months. If the pest is still attacked, I process the plant 2-3 times with an interval of 7-10 days according to the instructions to the drug, each time changing it.
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Heard recently about an exotic vegetable (or fruit?) Pepino. They say that it is a melon pear, and it seems that it can be grown in hothouse conditions. Is it so?
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Pepino (Latin: Solanum muricatum) is an evergreen shrub of the nightshade family. The plant has nothing to do with pear or melon. And they call it that because it looks like a pear in shape, and tastes like a melon or a sweet pumpkin. The main habitat is South America, however, this exotic can be grown in our conditions, in the garden or at home. Gardeners recommend propagating the plant by cuttings, as the seeds have not very good germination. To grow a melon pear, you need high soil and air humidity, an average temperature of 20-25 °, without fluctuations during the day. At high temperatures, pepino will not bear fruit, cool weather is best suited for it, so only individual fruitlets form in July-August, and in September-October their number increases. They eat melon pear fresh, make jam, and unripe fruits can be salted.