2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Pepino, Sweet Cucumber or Melon Pear (Latin Solanum muricatum) Is an evergreen shrub of the Solanaceae family. Pepino is considered to be the birthplace of South America. Today the plant is widely cultivated in Chile, New Zealand and Peru. In color and aroma, pepino fruits resemble cucumber, melon and pumpkin at the same time. In Russia, pepino is grown extremely rarely, mainly on personal backyards in heated greenhouses and at home.
Characteristics of culture
Pepino, or melon pear, is a perennial plant, which is a strongly branching semi-freshened shrub up to 1.5 m high. The root system is powerful, fibrous type, thanks to which the plants tolerate transplantation without problems, the roots are restored and continue to actively develop. Pepino's stems are thin, without a garter to a support, they lie on the ground and subsequently take root. With high humidity of air and soil, plants are able to form aerial roots. Leaves are dark green, entire, with a wavy surface.
Flowers lilac, light purple, white or white with bluish stripes, collected in racemose inflorescences of 10-20 pieces. The fruit is a berry, it can be oblong, inverse pear-shaped, flat-rounded or flattened, weighing up to 750 g. Ripe fruits are creamy-yellow, yellow or yellow-orange with lilac specks and stripes, or without them. The skin of the fruit is smooth, very firm, shiny, easily separating from the pulp. The pulp is juicy, aromatic, tender, has a sweet taste. Under favorable growing conditions, the fruits taste and smell of melon, and under unfavorable conditions, the taste and smell of cucumber.
Growing conditions
Pepino is a thermophilic plant that develops well in regions with a moderately warm climate. Melon pear cannot stand the heat. Temperatures above 30C have a negative effect on plant growth, and low temperatures have a detrimental effect on young ovaries. The optimum air temperature is 20-25C. Even minor frosts affect the leaves, flowers and young ovaries, but the fruits and lignified stems can withstand short-term frosts up to -3C.
Pepino is a neutral day plant, since normal fruit formation is observed with both short and long days. The crop prefers well-moistened, drained, neutral soils with a deep arable layer. Soils with a high nitrogen content are not suitable, as plants build up excess vegetative mass to the detriment of fruits. The culture of saline, acidic and waterlogged soils does not accept, on them pepino is affected by rot of a various nature.
Reproduction and planting
Pepino is propagated by seeds and stepsons. Seeds are sown in seedling boxes at the end of January. It is important to provide the seedlings with proper care and additional lighting. In this case, the first fruits will delight their owners at the beginning of July. The optimum germination temperature is 28C. With the emergence of seedlings, the temperature is reduced to 18C, and then increased by 5C. Seedlings grow very slowly, and practically do not stretch. Diving of seedlings is carried out in the phase of 2-3 true leaves. The seedlings are deepened to the cotyledons.
Reproduction of pepino by stepchildren is also a fairly effective way. You can collect stepchildren from seedlings one month old. The stepsons are rooted in seedling boxes, after which they are transplanted into separate pots and grown for 45 days, and only then are they transplanted to a permanent place. By the way, pepino gives 100% rooting, and without the use of growth stimulants. It should be noted that stepsons root in peat in the best way without shading, the first roots appear after 3-4 days, mass rooting occurs in 10-12 days.
Care
In general, caring for a melon pear is similar to caring for tomatoes. It consists in regular watering, weeding and feeding. Waterlogging of the soil in the near-stem zone should not be allowed, otherwise this can lead to root rot. A couple of weeks after planting seedlings in the ground, the plants are tied to a support and begin to form. Pepino is formed into 2-3 stems, systematically removing stepchildren. Overgrown stepchildren are cut with pruning shears. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is also not prohibited.
