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Cucamelons

An easy alternative to cucumbers

Last cucamelon
Last cucamelon on the vine

I decided to give cucamelons a try, mainly because I’m not partial to cucumbers, but my daughter is, and they’re easy enough to grow.

It’s a vine with fruit the size of grapes. They taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness/lime but look like a miniature melon.

Its Latin name is Melothria scabra. You’ll also find it called the mouse melon, Mexican sour gherkin, Mexican miniature watermelon and Mexican sour cucumber. You’ll have guessed it’s an old Mexican domesticated crop native to Central America, where it is called sandita (little watermelon).

I sowed mine in April and was concerned about the initial lack of growth. They take a while to establish, then take off big style, reaching up to 10ft in the right conditions.

  • Cucamelons
  • Cucamelons

If you can’t be bothered with the faff of cucumbers, cucamelons are drought and pest-resistant. They produce male and female flowers on the same plant but can pollinate themselves. Fruits develop at the base of the female flower.

Although the books say they don’t need to be grown under glass, I grow mine in the lean-to greenhouse. The winds and cool, grey days of most North-East summers don’t do them any good.

They can be planted close together and mine did well in the unconventional pots. A Funky Laundry shopping bag (three in there) – www.funkylaundry.co.uk – and two in 99p Ikea kids’ blue toy boxes (with holes skewered in the bottom).


potted-guide-logoPotted guide: cucamelons from seed

  •  SOWING TIME: April-May in a propagator/windowsill, ideal germination temp 24C, 6-14 days.
  •  HARVESTING TIME: July-October.
  •  ASPECT AND SOIL: Full sun, rich, well-drained soil.
  •  HARDINESS: Tender.
  • DIFFICULTY: Moderate to get going, then easy.

Cucamelon tubers - watch out for rot
Cucamelon tubers – watch out for rot

Overwintering cucamelons

If you grew cucamelons, I bet you weren’t expecting these. They’re perennials and produce large, radish-like roots. You can store like dahlias and start into growth the next spring for earlier crops. It also means you miss out on their slow start to life.

In autumn, expose the roots to see if they have produced tubers. Store these in slightly moist compost or Vermiculite in a frost-free place during winter.

Plant them up into pots in early to mid-April under glass. Pot them on into large containers in a cool greenhouse (I do this) or plant outside in warmer areas.

NOTE – trickier than it seems – the roots survived the winter, then promptly rotted when potted up.

tomatoes peppers cucamelons aubergines
Tomatoes, pepper Lemon Dream, cucamelons and aubergines

Updated March 2021