You can get them in the US here (under chilacayote)
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/VegetablesO-Z.htm

or on ebay (search Chilacayote or Lacayote)

or in Europe from here
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rickstevens/ohmygourd/Freeseedhome.html

Help!

I have a friend who has a medical condition that can be helped by eating the Shark Fin melon. Can anyone direct me to a grower (commercial or otherwise) who has some to sell?

Hey dudes,
I'm knew to the world of plants, and i don't know much about their history or background or anything. Could someone please tell me where the Shark Fin Melon plant originated?

Hi Internet_forums_suck,

I think the Shark Fin Melon originated in FINland

Seriously though, I am no real expert in Asian vegetables, the Eastern Mexican vegetable types are more my area of expertise.

hahahaha

zeedman,
you wrote:
The plants are also daylength-sensitive, and will not blossom until the days approach 12 hours in length. Since that is in September, that means not enough time before frost for most of the U.S. They may get male flowers before that, but the females will be late in coming.

The fruits, when fully mature, are supposed to store for as long as one year, and be good for making candy.

(snip)

The fruits store for at least two years (amazing) and they are not unduly daylength sensitive. Here in Britain (with more extreme daylength fluctuations than where you are) we can grow them like any other squash. I know you have it on good authority, but this is one of the very few occasions where my own experience proves Suzanne Ashworth wrong. A garden friend in Maine took my word for it (and got some seeds) and grew very nice squashes a few years ago. Needless to say they are not perennial in Britain or in Maine, but they grow just fine.
Maybe there are some varieties that are more daylength sensitive, but the ordinary c. ficifolia is not.

Galina, I hope that you are right, because I am growing a supposedly day-neutral variety this year obtained from one of the members in this thread. I had heard that there was one out there, and had even located a source several years ago... but they never held up their end of the swap, even after repeated attempts. I was beginning to wonder if their "Italian frying squash" was fictitious.

I admit that my info is second-hand, through references... which included more than just Seed to Seed. ;-) I didn't learn of C. ficifolia until after I had left California. With the exception of one person in New England (the swap that fell through), all of the growers I met online were in California. It may be that there are both day-sensitive and day-neutral cultivars in circulation, just as there are for winged beans and asparagus beans.

For me, it may be less a matter of daylength, and more a matter of DTM, since my seasons are so short. I'm starting them early in pots, and trying to be optimistic. That, and wondering if I have assigned it enough space!

zeedman

Best of luck.

FWIW, our last frost date is (nominally) 1 June (I have lost plants to frost on 6 June) and the first frost is October (usually we are still ok the first half of October). We don't have your warm summer weather, which means plants grow/develop slower. How short is your season?

It is not difficult to grow SFMelons here. I doubt you will have problems with days to maturity. Space, well that is another matter altogether - you can watch the vines growing and if you stand still, they might ensnare you ;-)

Hi Galina,

Can you send me some of the shark fine melon seeds you grow? The variety you grow in the UK must not be daylenght sensitive and should produce mature fruit in my region of Canada 45° 22' N and Longitude 75° 43' W. We get 12 hours days by the end of September and first frost sometime in late November . . . our summers are usually hot - air conditioning required !

I haven't been on here in a long while. But I just wanted to post these new pics of the Sharkfin Melons. They are back. We planted 3 seeds on my mom's request.

In this pic the plant has successfully climbed up a 10 plus feet tall Oleander bush.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sharkfin Melon

After all these years I just figured out how to paste pics in here.

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An update of my own... The Shark Fin Melon seeds I obtained through a swap were planted indoors in May, as transplants. Spring here was uncooperative, so they didn't get into the ground until mid-June. I covered the plants initially with floating row cover, to protect them from bugs & borers.

The vines root at the nodes where they tough the ground, and spread rampantly. I put 8 vines in a 30-foot square; they have covered it completely, gone through my fence, and encroached 10 feet into my surrounding plots.

However, the variety that I was sent does indeed appear to be daylength sensitive - no flowers yet. There are a few buds beginning to appear on new growth, so they should bloom in September at just about the equinox. Unfortunately, that is generally when my first light frosts can appear, so the chances of harvesting fruit of any size are remote.

"...I wonder if the tender shoots are any tasty?" (Eggo)

Fortunately, the answer is "yes". The wife often cooks large squash blossoms, and we enjoy harvesting the young squash vine tips at the end of the season. The tips of the Shark Fin Melon vines are much tastier than any other squash vines I've tried, and have a firm yet tender texture, similar to water spinach. Not at all hairy or spiny, and because of their rapid growth, they are tender for about the last 6 inches. We are harvesting enough tips to give some away to our Filipino friends.

As much as I enjoy it, though, I would not grow Shark Fin Melon for the shoots alone. It just takes up too much space. For those who have longer seasons, though, the harvest of vine tips could be significant... they are produced abundantly.

Galina, if the variety you grow flowers earlier than September, would you consider a swap? I'd like to give this squash one more try.

Yup... the vines flowered on September 20th, right on the equinox. Fortunately, we have had more than a week of unseasonably warm weather here, many days in the 80's. The vines have set numerous squash, which are growing quickly... but with frost due in a week or so, there is no chance that they will mature. Has anyone cooked the young squash?

By the way, I've been enjoying the young vine tips immensely. The vines re-sprout very quickly, so I have been able to harvest every 10 days or so. Boy, do those vines grow fast! Anyone who needs to trim their vines should try the tips. I season them with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder.

Oh, it's also worth noting:
When the nights begin to cool here, mildew begins to appear on my squash leaves. The squash are mostly mature now, so there is no harm done. But the SFM has no sign of mildew at all. If it is as mildew resistant as it appears to be, that would be a good trait to breed into other squashes.

zeedman...wow you were able to harvest shoots. maybe we have a different variety but all our shoots are all hairy. i wonder if you do have a different variety. did your plants look like the ones i posted?

thanks win.

Yes, Winane, my patch looks very similar to your photo in the opening post. I'll try to post a photo before frost kills the vines (which could happen this week). The shoots are a little hairy, but most of that disappears when cooked. I really like the texture of the shoots, they are much firmer & more succulent than other squash vines I've tried.

The vines have set a large number of squash, perhaps 20 or so... it's hard to count them through the dense growth. Most are just around baseball size, with only a few larger than that. If frost kills the vines Thursday, I'll be harvesting all of those young squashes; hopefully they will be good for something. Hate to waste them after all that work! If anyone has any tips on their use, they would be greatly appreciated.

Zeedman thank you for replying. The first squash we harvested that was ripe as when the stem turned semi woody, was about size of a big canteloupe. The ones we have left on the vine are a bit bigger than a basketball. We did cut a large amount of the vines because they were climbing up the trees.

We have harvested very young squashes and cooked them as if like opo or zucchini. We have stir-fried it with garlic and dried baby shrimps. My mom has made it in chicken broth with carrots. They are very tender and the meat hasn't turned into "shark fin" as of yet.

Good luck with your squashes.

Well, with frost on its way Friday night, I harvested all the young squashes. There were 3 the size of large cantaloupes, and many softball size. The wife peeled the small ones & cooked them; the texture is softer than zucchini, and very sweet. It reminds me of Italian cucuzza (edible gourd, Lagenaria siceraria). We'll use the larger ones for soup.

So it's not a complete loss... and it has been an interesting plant to grow. Still, I wish there had been time for them to mature. I probably won't grow it again, unless I can find one that is truly day-neutral.

Hi everyone! I love shark fin melon and just thought of growing it myself. It's pretty expensive at the supermarket so I figured maybe I could try growing some. I just opened one today and the seeds inside this one are black (sometimes theres only white seeds). Can I use these seeds to grow them? Should I plant them indoors now or wait to plant it outside in the spring? Also, I live in NYC. Thanks for the info =)

This is my first reply in to this post and here is my experience of the shark's fin squash:
I've been growing them for the last 4 years in a backyard space of about 5 feet by 20 feet that's between my garage and next door neighbor's hedges. In early-mid April I start my seeds (4-6) by sodding them in separate small foam cups with a drain hole. They stay indoor till the seedlings got to be 3 feet or so I transplant them to the outside. From there on I just keep watering them. In early June I'd fertilize them with 1/2 pound of finely grind yellow bean around the base of the plants.
Over the next 3 months they'd just grow all over the place and climb and clink to anything they can get their little curly green whiskers on...including small trees. As a matter of fact, my biggest squash was hung 10 feet from the top of a tree. They would flower in mid-late August and the first fruit would show up a few days before Labor day. I usually let them grow till the day before the weather forecast of the first frost. I had 3 melons my 1st year, 13 the 2nd year 23 last year and 28 this year. The biggest one is 13.8 pounds.
{{gwi:100040}}

wow that is huge! does it grow back every year on its own or do i have to plant new seeds every year?

Hi hwlee,

I'm really curious if your melons ever get to full maturity. My mom lives in NYC and she has never had any success in getting them past canteloupe size. I also have a cousin who grows them in New Jersey on a commercial field and she has yet to get one to maturity. Due to the short months and frost.

Currently from the 3 seeds we planted I think we have harvested about 40 melons. And we definitely have more out there.

Thanks for sharing!

Woogie,

Yes you can start plants with the mature black seeds. Hopefully your melons are mature melons with mature seeds.

Best of luck!

Woogie, you do need to plant new seeds every year. You must air dry the seeds for a few months. Start the seedling in late March/early April in a foam cup(hole in bottom for drainage) and cover them with peat moss and a little top soil. Let the seedlings grow to about 2 feet long and the weather gets a little warmer. Make sure no more frost. Plant them out in the garden. I usually plant 4 or 5 seedlings 1-1/2 feet apart.

Winane, you still have them out in the garden? That's amazing even with the warm weather in northern CA. So you can probably grow them year round. Out of the harvested squashes this year, I would say 3 of them are fully matured. You can tell if they are mature by pressing on the body and stem. If its firm and hard then most likely. I usually leave the oldest one alone till February to let it get ripen and "mature" further.

I am not surprise your mom's melons being that size. The ones I found in Chinatown are all smaller than cantaloupe and weigh about 5-6 pounds. Where in NY does she live? When does she start the seedling and when does she plant them? What kind of fertilizer does she used? Try using the grind yellow bean. It works for me. My smallest edible squash was 5 lb. I think the average was 9 lb.

Last year was a terribly slow growing year. The flowers didn't come till late August. Thought I was not going to get much fruit. I gave some seed to friend in Queens, NY but all he saw was flowers and not a single fruit. Later on he told me that he think the reason was that he accidentally used snow melt(salt) instead of fertilized and killed them. I also send some seeds to a friend in Oakland CA. She then gave some to her friends. She had 3 fruits and her friends had little bit of success. I told them they can start seedling earlier since CA weather is much warmer than NY.

I am going to start a bit early this year and see if they get any bigger than my 13.8 king. Good luck to you both.

Anyone happen to have some seeds of these babies? I would love to try some. I know this isnt the trade page, but if anyone has any spare seeds I would love to swap for them. Please see my swap page :)

I have some seeds. Email me hwlee888@gmail.com.

Henry

Hello everyone

After reading this thread last night and finding some recepies to make soup with SFM(shark fin melon). Today I went to Asian market . I found something that looked just like SFM.
But they called it small CHILACAYOTE.
I bought one weighing little over a pound. Brought home , cut it in half but the seeds were soft and tender. I wonder if this is same as SFM.

Anyway, the soup is cooking now (with pork neck bone and carrots. If it turns out like spagetti then I will know that I got the right stuff. I will find out in about an hour. I am hungr already.

Follow up on previous post:

YES! it is the real mcCoy. CHILACAYOYE IS SHARK FIN MELLON.
The one that I bougt must have been a young fruit , not fully ripen.
I think it taste good. I cooked it with rind and seeds all.
Very tender and tasy. Of course , I don't know how a ripened one would taste. But like they say "Tinier is tastier"

Final note:
I noticed that this thread has been going since 2005. That is amazing.

Yes cyrus,

It is the same thing with a different name. But yours is way too small and too young. Did you notice the fins are a little too soft? The matured ones are still firm and not mushy at all. Try to get a bigger one next time and save the seeds for planting if they are black and firm. I am starting my seeds in a week.

Thanks Lee

At my Asina market they did not have mature ones.
Actually I went in there to get a mature one, both for cooking and seeds. Oh, well. I enjoyed the soup.
I will be on the look out to find matured SFM and use seeds for planting. The one that I bout was very young and the seeds were soft like cucumber seeds. That is why I cooked it with skin and seeds , which were soft and tender.

I have to have this melon. I have already planted birdhous, ornamental and lufa gourds. The lufas seed I got from a lufa that I bought from Asian market last fall.
Some of the seeds were black and some white. I gues the white ones were not matured.

I might start a thread about gourds if there is not one yet there. I have some questions about Downey Mildew that killed my vines last year. When I realized it, it was too late and fugus spray could not remedy.

Cyrus

Cyrus,

Where do you live? If you are in a big enough city usually there is a Chinatown. The vegetable markets usually have good selection of this melon. My first seedlings were from seeds of a melon bought from the market 4 years ago.

It's been a bad year for squash planting so far with 47 continuous days of rain. I am hoping my seedlings can survive the next 3 weeks. There were little growth in the last 3 weeks.

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If you still can't find any nice matured ones by the end of the year let me know and I will send you some seeds. My email is hwlee888@gmail.com

Many Thanks , HWlee,
I live in Atlanta suburb. There are big communities of Asians here, mostly Koreans and Chines. Also there are several huge Asian vegies, grocery markets. But none has had matured shark fin melons so far. They are still selling young ones. One of the stores also sells seeds, very limited variety, mostly Korean stuff. I like their radishes. Last year I planted some. They did well. This year, in a month or so, I will plant my radishes. In my zone(8GA) they will last throughout most of the winter.
Cyrus

Anyone know why some small mellons drop off and some just dry up and die?

Paul,

The primary reason and cause for the problem you experiencing could be lack of pollination.
If you don't see around a lot of honey bees, bumble bees, the perhaps you should start hand pollinating.
There is a good thread about hand pollinating in "VEGETABLES" forum.
Another reason could be very wet and rainy weather.
It also depends on how big your vines are, what the growing conditions are.

I hope that some other members will give you some answers better than mine.
Cyrus

I have just come across this forum whilst googling to find out what sort of pumpkin I have growing in my garden. I was given a pumpkin plant that was supposed to be the usual orange variety but I now have a green monster! The plant has taken over my whole pumpkin patch with it growing about 15ft in each direction. It is growing through hedges and over garden benches. I have two huge fruits on it at the moment as well as about 10 small ones (though these are inclined to drop off). I am hoping that someone can identify the plant from the picture and confirm if, in fact, it is a sharkfin melon.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:388061}}

Hi Moby,

I peaked at your picture and it doesn't look like our sharkfin melons. The ones we have grown are smooth skinned. From your picture it looks like there are some warts and some lobes. See my previous pics.

And yes after all these years we still are growing this marvelous melon!

Thanks for your reply, winane. Sorry, perhaps the picture is not too good - they are not warts on the skin, I took the picture after rain and they are water droplets. The skin is fairly smooth. Perhaps I will not be able to identify the fruit until after I have harvested and cut it open. At the moment I am just waiting to see how big it will get. In the meantime it will remain a mystery.

I know this is an old thread, but I feel compelled to reopen it given my recent experience with SFM. I'm in the SF Bay Area (East Bay where it gets pretty warm/hot in the Summer). Last year, I planted SFM a little to late and only got one fruit before the first frost in December. I thought the plant was gone. Low and behold, it started sprouting in March. And this is after we had some rare 22 degree days in the mid of Winter.

Thanks to those who shared their experience with eating the shoot tips. Like others, my vines grow almost a foot a day and I'm running out of room; so I'll start harvesting the vine tips.

I'll have seed later in the year. So let me know if you'd like to trade.

Time to open up this old thread again.
This year's harvest is a little better than last year. Got a total of 15, although the pic showed only 8. I harvested some 2 weeks ago and some were still on the vine but died after last night's frost.
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Time to once again resurrect this thread.
I now have seeds. However, my question is this:

I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time saving seed of the C. ficifolia that are already starting to have a very small sprout starting in the fruit. � I've read sometime in the past that they do this but am unsure if the seed are still viable.

TIA

Upon further thought, I do think I have to pick smaller fruit that don't have as much internal moisture in order to save seed. The large fruits i saved seed from are very moist inside and cause the seed to start sprouting ever so slightly.
Anyone else notice this?

I guess there's not a way to edit msgs.
I forgot that the younger, smaller fruits have small undeveloped cucucumber-like seeds, so maybe the secret is to cut open a mature fruit immediately & not let it store for 5-6 months like mine have.

Hi! Wow I can't believe this posting is still going! Well these melons/seeds are extremely hardy! Yes you must harvest from a well matured melon. I have had some in storage for almost 3 years and the seeds are very black and they do dry up well. The seeds appear to be sprouting but unless there is a sprout it is not. I have been using seed from about 6 years ago that I have dried. This year I will try my best to keep it down to 2 plants. Last year we did 2 plants and trimmed it down consistently and we got about 40 melons. That is way more than enough!

I am curious if anybody has eatened the shoots off of this hairy vine?

Michael, No, I have not come across a seed sprouting inside a melon, young or matured. I usually harvest the oldest melon last and leave it sitting on my dinning room table for 2 to 3 months before eating and picking seeds.
I usually sow 4 seeds indoors @ mid April. Plant them outside @ later May.
winane: How do you get 40 melons from 2 plants...thats amazing? What fertilizer did you used? I never tried the shoots of the hairy vine. Maybe try preserve them in salt and vinegar?

40 is quite amazing. One issue I've had is spider mites once the heat arrives.
I've got viable seed avaiable from non-hairy tips hybrid

We are in the SF Bay Area also. We just plant the seeds directly into the ground. They take off quite fast. I think we usually plant in March but this year we have alot of rain so I think it will happen later. After all these years with this melon it seems that it doesn't really matter if we do a headstart in pots or not. The plant actually seems hardier when it is sown outdoors.

HwLee... our very first year we grew these were from 4 seeds that were given to my mom. We harvested well over 200 melons that summer and autumn! I did tend to the vines often with Miracle Grow etal...Since I didn't remember where the root of it was I sprayed the entire plant every 2-3 weeks. As the years past I didn't even bother to fertilize or even water. It grows like a weed! We barely watered them after the vines were about 3 feet long. And my mom has even cut up and dried some of the melons. They actually make a much tastier stock. Though they are darker in color.

Wellspring... These melons if they are fully matured can keep for years. The way my mom has taught me to check for fully matured melons is to check the hardness of the skin. It is full ripe if you can't put your thumb nail through the exterior. We just leave them until I can see the stem of the melon starts to turn brownish. And still you can use the seeds from that same melon to dry. I have done this frequently. You can also use these melon like a hairy gourd melon when they are young.
I think in a similiar thread somebody told me his Filipino wife harvest shoots and stirfried them. I'm a bit leary since they seem so hairy!
Good luck your SFM this year!

I was trying to post some pics but the files are too big for GW.

We have not had any issues with pest with these...perhaps it's bec you have a nonhairy tip hybrid? If you to try these seeds you are welcome to them.

Thanks winane~
Say, one last question about drying the seeds. hwlee says he dries the seed for a month or so.
I'm wondering how you dry yours since it's Winter and high humidity in our neck of the woods during the drying seeds time.

BTW, today I found out that by putting black and tan seeds in a bowl of water, the tan seeds (which aren't viable) will float to the top and are easy to separate.

I usually damp dry the seeds with a towel and them put them in a sunny window for a week or so. What's your technique winane?

Thanks

Climbthemtns... When I open up a melon (and with all seed harvesting) what I usually do is put the seeds in water and get rid of all the pulp carefully. Put the seeds in a collander to rinse and get off excess water. Then I usually will put the seeds onto coffee filters and put them on the window sill. I've left seeds there for months. Then I store them in ziplock bags coffee filters and all.

Ohhh one thing I don't think this thread mentioned was how to open a mature melon. It took a few trials and errors. The first time I think I had a Chinese chopping cleaver and a rubber mallet. This is NOT the way! One could loose body parts! I have found if I took the melon out to the garage or even to the sidewalk...anywhere with concrete and drop it a few times the hard shell will crack open in several spots. The more the better. The shell with a little muscle will come off in pieces.

Have fun!

Winane, that was ingenious how you open the squash. I will try that this year.
Here are my 15 day old seedlings of 2011.
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Hwlee...very nice seedlings! I hope you get a bountiful of melons!

We had a nice harvest in the fall so I don't think we will be growing anymore melons this year. Time to let the ground rejuvenate itself. Hmmm perhaps we will use that area for something else.. Chinese long beans maybe...or bitter melon.

I have been looking to grow this variety for a while. Should anyone happen to still have some seeds of this variety I would be happy to trade some rare cucumber seeds for some Shark Fin Melon seeds.

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: A few of the rare cucumber varieties I grow

I'm growing Shark Fin Melon this year here in southwestern Idaho (near the Oregon High Desert). It seems to require a long season, because it's just now looking like it'll set fruit. It doesn't seem to like the hot sun (it wilts in it). It grows vegetation well in the shade here. It does indeed grow fast! It doesn't grow as fast when it's really hot, it seems, though.

So, our growing season is nearing its completion. It doesn't look like I'll get to save seeds. However, this plant is one of the best and fastest-growing plants I've found for edible greens (you can eat the leaves and stems). They taste like a mix between green beans and spinach. You can root cuttings from these easily, too (which also grow fast).

People should really market these as greens. If you find a place to buy them, I recommend buying in bulk, unless you have a long enough season to get fruit. My growing season is about five months.

Anyway, I planted two plants approximately five feet deep (using a post hole digger). I'm hoping the depth will miraculously allow them to overwinter. :) If they can stay dormant over a winter without dying and if they can grow up through that much soil (since it'll freeze to a certain depth), I'm sure they'll be able to make it. I don't know if they can, though. We'll see if they come back next year. (Note: although my zone says 4a, it's usually more like 5 or 6.)