One of the best surprises in my vegetable garden this year is the cucamelon. It’s a climbing plant that produces lovely little fruits that look like tiny watermelons, and taste kind of like a mix between cucumber, melon and lime — a very tasty little garden snack! Cucamelon has a few aliases too — I’ve also seen it called “Mexican sour gherkin”, “sandita” and “mouse melon”.
I started mine from seed, and they sprouted nicely within a few days. I transplanted them into separate 9x9cm pots once they’d grown a bit, and they grew fast indoors — fast enough that I got a little worried they were growing too thin.
I moved them outdoors after a few weeks: one into the mini greenhouse, and two straight outdoors. All three were a bit fragile and leggy, and struggled at first after the move — the outdoor plants actually looked dead just a few days in — but they all recovered.
It’s pretty clear this plant needs a greenhouse to really thrive here in the Nordics. The greenhouse plant grew fast and climbed all over the little space, with tiny yellow flowers and signs of fruit within a few weeks — climbing right over my basil plant. Lovely to watch the little cucamelons develop. I’ll definitely grow this again next season!
