I never heard this kind of plant. Its scientific name is Solanum muricatum. Pepinos are sensitive to the cold, so do not plant them outside until after mid-May. Now, a few years down the track, pepinos (Solanum muricatum) have become a staple in our backyard food forest. Every 3 4 days, make sure to change the water. We love slicing them up and devouring (the skin can be a little chewy so you might like to remove it), or using as a refreshing addition to fruit salads or smoothies. Plants too big for mail order. Pepino melon tends to be 60 to 120 centimetres tall, although it can hit 150 centimetres in exceptional cases. Once they have attained enough size to transplant, transfer into individual pots but keep them in the greenhouse for their first winter. Sustainable gardening is a matter of the heart for us! To plant out a young pepino plant, fill your chosen container with potting soil, place your plant in the soil, no deeper than it was in its previous container, press down, and water generously. Dig the soil over well before planting, removing any weeds. Remove broken branches. Purple elongated fruit approximately 12cm long when mature. Hi Lynne. The pepino dulce is presumed to be native to the temperate Andean regions of Colombia, Peru and Chile though it is not known in the wild and the details of its domestication are unknown. New equipped kitchen with dishwasher, refrigerator, induction hobs and extractor hood. Its easy to bite right into for a refreshing snack. Previously, she owned her own business, selling handmade items online, wholesale and at crafts fairs. The soft, tasty flesh of the tree melon is golden yellow to yellow-orange and can be enjoyed raw and with the skin on. The bush can grow up to 3 feet (1 meter) tall and 3 feet (1 meter) wide. At room temperature, melon pears keep fresh for a few weeks. It should come off after a few tugs. You can eat pepinos raw, prepare them as a dessert with ice cream or preserve them. Propag struggles in Brisbane --> or it may be the shale clayey soil I have. There are several ways to eat it depending on your taste preference, either by itself or in salads or other meals. You can include them in a fruit salad, on top of your morning porridge basically treat them like a melon. Or, alternatively, propagate a pepino from cuttings in early summer. Use in fruit and green salads or eat a cool Pepino on a hot summers day. ), Ive got cuttings on the go in my straw bale gsrden, I live up in Clarence Point and I am just about to go out and harvest my very first one, so looking forward to trying them, have no idea where I got my plant from. Amending organic mulch, like sugar cane, will help the bush produce larger and sweeter fruit. I bought a plant and it has many big beautiful leaves and new growth. Self Layering, productive and a soil fixer. What can be wrong? Pepino (Solanum muricatum) comes from the Solanaceae family which is the same nightshade family with members of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and potatoes. Thanks x. Grows really well from cuttings. However when I have accidently knocked some off the bush, Ive just left them on my kitchen bench to ripen over a few days and they still taste delicious phew. Growing pepino in pots is a great option as pots can be moved undercover to a sheltered spot during times of frost. The plant doesn't survive winter cold so is usually grown as an annual, but you can grow pepinos as perennials by planting them in pots and overwintering them indoors. Its a shrubby climber or ground creeper originally from South America. This provides your plant a loose soil with high compost content, which stores water, but prevents waterlogging. It is a perennial, but is usually cultivated as an annual. I can't say that Ireally like the taste of the fruit, My 13 year old son loves it. Pepino will also grow roots from branches that touch the ground. Unripe melon pears are poisonous and can cause stomach cramps and nausea due to their high solanine content. Depending on where you live, you may prefer to grow a pepino plant in the ground or a pot you can sit on your terrace or balcony. Cant wait for more, especially now that we are heading for warmer weather. More commercially viable cultivars were introduced from New Zealand and elsewhere towards the end of the 20th century, leading to its introduction into up-scale markets in Japan, Europe and North America.[4]. Flavour is like a juicy rock melon. This means you will need to tie them up, or do what we do: we grow our pepino intermingled with a banana passionfruit vine, and as the passionfruit vine climbs, it naturally ties in our pepino for us the do-nothing gardeners way to train a pepino! Lets find out. I bought a plant at a church fund raiser. I've got about 20 pepinos growing. The pepino bush is a perennial plant, meaning it will live for severalyears. A newer pepino dulce plant may produce fruit as early as 4 - 6 months after planting, but more often it will take about 12 months for a new plant to fruit. Im about to plant a whole bunch of cuttings under established fruit trees as a living edible mulch. The green pointy egg-shaped fruit will gradually turn to golden when fully ripe, generally in late autumn and winter. A ripe pepino should be slightly soft to the touch and have a fruity aroma. Plant into a good potting mix and water well. Botanical Name Syringa meyeri Palibin. You can then cut it free from the original plant and move it to your desired area. For the tastiestfruit, leave it on the plant until fully ripe for the flavor to develop. Because they are messy growers, in my experience, the best way to grow pepinos is to train them up a trellis. I agree with Dave, they are fruit fly favourites. Push the legs of the cage all the way into the soil to anchor it. Leave them on the vine as long as possible for maximum flavour. This is my favorite way to eat pepino melon! If you grow it in potting soil, make sure you place it in a pot that can drain well. Sow these seeds early, from February, in compost on a warm windowsill, before planting them out in mid-May. I am particularly passionate about self-sufficiency and seasonal food. Pepino melon fruit is a small oval fruit with firm, smooth skin that turns yellow with purple stripes when it ripens. Easy to grow perennial shrub with large, juicy fruits that taste a bit like honeydew melon. However, only now is the fruit ripening. Learn how to add this Offer Code to the shopping cart for when you visit us. Once the branch has developed its own roots, you can easily cut the branch from the original mother plant and transplant it elsewhere in the garden. Water through the first few summers. Well, thats exactly what got me excited about growing my own food. Hi Donna, As our trees have gotten bigger, Ive stopped growing them under our fruit trees as theyre quite hungry and need more nutrients/water than what was available. Tweaks by binarybhu, Home Harvest: Thoughts & A Virtual Tour 2023. The 3 plants are growing well in a cut barrel. This is our first crop. Its a wonderful plant! Compare. It grows well here but the fruits are susceptible to every known pest and disease,especially fruitfly. Does anyone know where I may be able to get a plant or does anyone have a Pepino I could get a few cuttings from. Flavour is like a juicy rock melon. Pepino grow and care - shrub of the genus Solanum also known as Pepino melon or pepino dulce, Pepino is perennial evergreen plant, grow in mediterranean, subtropical, tropic climate and growing in hardiness zone 10b+. They quickly lose flavour and turn mushy in the cold. Its a fruit that is usually about the size of an adult palm or a size of small-to-medium-sized avocado. They flourish in our poor sandy soil, and produce well even in a mostly shaded part of our garden. The crop also adapts well to greenhouse cultivation, training the plants up to 2 m tall, and obtaining yields that are 2-3 times larger than those obtained outdoors. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. It is important to use a nutrient-rich potting soil for this, like our Plantura Organic Tomato & Vegetable Compost. Bunnings lists them online but no store I've been to has them or can tell me any stores that do. Home Terms & conditions A-Z Plants Text A-Z Plants Pictures Contact Us Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery. If you wonder how to eat pepino melon, there are several ways. The pepino bush produces self-fertilepurple and white flowers. Place the cuttings in a glass jar of water and position it in a well-lit spot out of direct sunlight. Could ine start a plant from grocery store fruit ? You can grow pepino directly from seed. You can harvest tree melons from July until the last fruits ripen in October. Hi, Im Jo, a backyard gardener who grows food. [3], The study of the molecular variation of this pepino is of interest for several reasons. The plants are parthenocarpic, meaning it needs no pollination to set fruit, though pollination will encourage fruiting. 100mm Pepino El Camino - Solanum El Camino (0) $7.87. Once the self-fertilizing white and purple flowers bloom on the bush, it will take between 60 80 days for the fruit to grow and become ripe enough to harvest. 1. Grew them easily in Western highlands of PNG with loads of fruit all year round. The plant can survive a low temperature of -2.5 C (27 to 28 F) if the freeze is not prolonged, though it may drop many of its leaves. The taste is like a cucumber / melon combination which this thing is unbelievable it was covered with fruit within the first few months that we planted it and we only put it in this year! The plant can survive a low temperature of -2.5C (27 to 28F) if the freeze is not prolonged, though it may drop many of its leaves. Thanks for your tips. Mix 1 tablespoons of slow-release 5-10-10 fertilizer with the soil, and water until it's moist. This plant has really taken off, but there are no flowers on it as yet. . Check out our range of Pick Me Edibles products online and at your local Bunnings. It was a present I received in March, it is in a pot and has done really well. Water the pepino when the top inch of soil feels dry. 7.8/10 Good! More commonly, pepino bushes flower in the spring then produce fruit through the spring through fall. Plant some today and diversify your edible garden today! Follow us: Pepinos are perennial, so plant them once and have rockmelon-substitutes for years to come. The fruit is common in markets in Colombia, Kenya, Bolivia, Peru and Chile, but less often overseas because it is quite sensitive to handling and does not travel well. Pepino plants are ideally grown in a temperate climate. Pepinos produce best with minimal fertilization. Mulch around the plant tp maintain a cool moist root run. They will feel soft to the touch and slightly fragrant. Pepinos are also virtually pest-free, although our possums do like to devour the foliage when they have run out of other food sources in winter, so avoid planting them along your fence line. Favourite fruit: quince, cornelian cherry and blueberries Favourite vegetables: peas, tomatoes and garlic. A newer pepino dulce plant may produce fruit as early as 4 6 months after planting, but more often it will take about 12 months for a new plant to fruit. Container growing also allows you to grow the plant in a limited space, such as on a balcony or patio. My first two fruits sat on the plant growing happily until they were just on ripe. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Jenny Harrington has been a freelance writer since 2006. Pepino melons, tree melons, pear melons and melon pears are all the same fruit. Pear melons prefer a well-drained, nutrient-rich soil. It means we get a lot of fruit all year round. Flesh looks and tastes similar to a cantalope but with a slight cucumber flavour. Medium egg-shaped fruit is heavily striped with mauve stripes. It has a mildly sweet taste with the watery and soft texture of a cucumber. When the pepino plant is ready to handle sunlight, you can transfer it into a larger pot and place it outside. Instagram link. Other names it can go by are sweet cucumber and melon pear. Harrington's specialties include small business information, crafting, decorating and gardening. Leave a 2-inch space between the top of the soil and the rim of the pot. Only pick fragrant, slightly soft fruit which are ripe. 7 Tips To Successfully Grow Basil At Home here, How to Grow Watermelons: Planting, Caring and Harvesting Watermelons, How to Grow Kumquats: Complete Guide To Kumquat Tree Care, Growing Feijoa Pineapple Guava Trees and Eating Feijoa Fruit, How To Grow A Lemon Tree With Prolific Fruit At Home, How To Grow Sensational Strawberries At Home, Tree Tomato: How to Grow Tamarillo Trees and Eat The Fruit, Kiwano Melon: Grow African Horned Melon and Eat the Fruit, Pomelo Fruit: What is a Pomelo and How to Eat One, How To Grow Blueberries: Planting, Caring and Harvesting.