Shark Fin Melon Patch (cucurbita ficifolia)
winane
18 years ago
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organic_francis
16 years agoeric_grower
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Your most exotic crop?
Comments (26)One person's exotic crop, is another person's....potatoes! Potatoes are my exotic crop. Hey, don't laugh! I grew up with chayote squash but unable to grow potatoes (they do not grow well in the tropics). I did not realize until recently that: -potatoes will not form tubers in the heat. -potatoes need a low pH. How low? I have seen different figures. I guess I should start a thread on common (non exotic) crops. OK, so I managed to grow enough of them for one meal. This is terrible, because they were the best potatoes I ever tasted, and now I want more. I am trying again. I got enough potatoes (little bitty ones) that I can use them as seed. I will manage to grow potatoes some day. Some say it is easy. I started chayote squash in zone 10, now I will start again in zone 9. I even have a place for them. Very easy to start, get some at grocery stores that do not treat their produce. I got mine at a Mexican food store. It started growing sprouts all by itself, sure looks like an alien type of veggie. Very interesting indeed. I like it in creole dishes, if I call it mirliton then it really sounds exotic even to me! Some more: Methi greens (just use the fenugreek seeds from Indian stores). Aloo methi, yum yum.... Gai lan. I love it but it did not do too well for me. Should I try again? Pak choi. This does great and I will continue to grow them. I would like bananas so I need to take a cutting and transplant or something. I would prefer the plantain type of bananas. Some day I will manage to grow an avocado tree and get avocados. I am growing artichokes but this is not exotic to me, maybe to you? Corn! now that is exotic, not only in Europe but also in Los Angeles. Amaranth could be considered exotic? I grew it and now I have heaps of amaranth volunteers. I wanted it to reseed, but not that much!...See MoreSeeking seeds of shark fin melon
Comments (11)I have also heard this called Siam Pumpkin from Shanghai. I think it's the same thing. I would love some seeds. Recent research shows it protects the still healthy insulin producing cells in Type 1 diabetics. My kids have this disease. I grow organic veggies to feed them right and give their immune system a boost, but preserving cells would be even better. Looks like there's something real to this. I keep up as much as I can on research and the major children's hospitals in the U.S. have potential cures which all hinge on the person still having some good cells left to work with. My kids still produce some insulin. Please let me know where I could get some seeds and where to send a SASE.Thanks!...See Morehow to prune a shark's fin melon cucurbita ficifolia
Comments (2)Even though we have grown these for several years in the past, with all the pruning we did they still went wild. So in the end all we could do was keep the patch from getting out of control at the perimeters. I can honestly say the patch would grow at least 5 inches within a 24 hour span. But I do have to say from the initial 4 plants we harvested several hundred melons. I surely hope you don't want that big of a harvest!!! I think the most import thing is to have the long growing season and to pick the maure melons and have a second crop. Good Luck...See MoreVining Okra seed!
Comments (13)I like to trade seed with people from OK and the Ozarks region because I feel like I'm getting something that will grow well here. I don't know how many times I've wasted my time, etc., trading for seed for plants that won't make it through the heat of the summer, or that need a longer growing season than I have or that need a couple of years to fully mature but can't tolerate the winters we have. That said, I have had some very nice trades over on the seed exchange forum and have met some very nice people. I've also run into a few huffy people who think that just because they've had a bad experience they have to take it out on everyone, or who seem to think that everything they have is so much more valuable than anything anyone else could send them, that they turn me off. But if you read what they write at the beginning of their seed and plant lists, you can generally spot one of those....See Moreinternet_forums_suck
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