Pepino (melon pear): growing at home from seeds and seedlings, reviews

Growing pepino at home is not difficult, but rather unusual. The seeds are already on the market, and there is little information. So domestic gardeners are trying to master all the wisdom of growing pepino on their own, and then share their experience on the forums. Meanwhile, the conditions, for example, in the Krasnodar Territory and in the Urals are different, so ridiculous mistakes are being made. And the culture is simple, there are simply rules, departing from which it is impossible to teach the harvest at home.

What is Pepino

Melon pear or Pepino belongs to the Solanaceae family. It comes from South America and is grown in countries with warm or temperate climates for its edible fruit. Unlike other nightshade crops, unripe pepino berries are edible, taste like a cucumber, and are used as vegetables. Well-ripened fruits with aroma and taste are similar to cantaloupe.

Comment! Often ripe pepino berries are called fruit. It is not right. Despite the sweet taste and the fact that, from a biological point of view, the melon pear is a berry, from the culinary point of view it is a vegetable, like the rest of the Solanaceae family.

Pepino is a perennial woody shrub at the base with a height of more than 1.5 m. Some varieties can reach 2 m when grown in a greenhouse. Pepino forms many lateral shoots and quickly gains green mass. Its leaves are the same as those of pepper. The flowers are similar to potato flowers, but are collected in clusters, like those of a tomato.

Fruits weighing from 150 to 750 g, like some varieties of eggplant, are pear-shaped or flat-round. They differ in color, size, shape, often yellow or beige, with purple or purple vertical strokes. White or yellow pulp is juicy, aromatic, sweet and sour. There are very few small seeds, sometimes there are none at all.

Important! Pepino is a self-pollinated culture.

Landing in the ground

Since the plants of pepino - melon pear are very photophilous, in a greenhouse located from west to east, seedlings should be planted in a bed at the southern end, if from north to south then at the ends of the beds adjacent to the southern end. These are the brightest places. For 1 sq. per meter, 5-6 plants are arranged with the formation of 1 stem, 3 plants with the formation of 2 stems and 2 plants - in 3 stems. But the earliest ripening plants are those that are formed into a stem, so it is better to give preference to just such a formation.

Before and after planting, the undersides of large leaves must be carefully examined, since a whitefly, a greenhouse pest, can settle on them. Both the butterfly and the larvae should be removed by hand, since chemical preparations have almost no effect on them.

Since pepino has a lot in common with tomatoes, the pre-planting soil preparation is similar to that of a tomato. Just like a tomato, when planting, plants are buried to the first lower leaf to form a more powerful root system. If flowering seedlings are planted, then it makes sense, having planted deeply, immediately to the end, do not cover part of the stem from the root collar to the lower leaf with earth. This part of the stem can be covered with earth in two weeks, then, perhaps, simultaneously with the seedlings taking root on the first brush, fruits will be tied.Otherwise, with the simultaneous establishment, growth of the adventitious root system and flowering, overload may occur, and there will be no fruits on the first brush.

However, the melon pear generally has a problem with fruit setting. It is likely that not a single fruit will be set over the summer, but at the end of August-September, if the weather was rather warm, ovaries appeared. In this case, the plants can be carefully dug up and transferred to pots or tubs with a volume of 3-5 liters. You can plant 3-4 plants in one 10-liter container. With a neat transplant, the plants will take root well. When planting, they are buried like overgrown tomatoes - with the inclination of the bare stems and their deepening with soil. Pegs should be placed under the plants. Leave only fruiting stems, pluck out all sterile stepchildren. The container is placed on a light window, where they will continue to grow, and it will be possible to wait for the harvest in late autumn.

You do not have to dig out the entire bush as a whole, it is enough to keep the rooted stepson and plant it as seedlings next spring, since it is much more difficult to grow pepino from seeds.

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Features of growing pepino

Reviews of Pepino differ dramatically. Some consider the cultivation of melon pear as easy as other nightshade crops, others argue that it is difficult to wait for the harvest. This is due to the fact that some gardeners do not bother to study the needs of the plant. They don't even always read what is written on the label before germinating the seeds. Meanwhile, if you do not create suitable conditions for pepino, it will constantly shed leaves, flowers and ovary. Its growing requirements are very tough.

You need to know about pepino:

It is a plant with short daylight hours. Pepino for flowering and fruiting is necessary for the dark time of the day to last at least 12 hours. Oddly enough, such needs are mainly found in tropical and subtropical cultures. The fact that tomatoes, peppers, eggplants are planted in the sun, and they safely harvest until autumn, is explained by long and diligent selection. Pepino has strict requirements for lighting. Moreover, it is impossible to plant it in partial shade - the culture needs a lot of sun, but not for long. On a large bush, fruits can set where the flowers are covered with leaves, or on the side that other plants shade.
Comment! Someone might argue that pepino is most often grown in countries with a tropical climate, and there daylight hours are much longer than ours. It's true. They just plant it so that the period of fruit setting falls on the winter.
Although pepino is a thermophilic culture, at temperatures above 30⁰C it sheds flowers and ovaries. And not necessarily everything, because of which gardeners may think that it was not they who made a mistake, but the plant is capricious. In fact, ovaries usually remain inside the bush or on the side that is constantly in the shade, and there the temperature is slightly lower.
Important! At a temperature of 10⁰C, pepino can die.
Those fruits that set before the end of May should not fall off, unless, of course, there is extreme heat. They fill up, increasing in size.
In pepino, it takes 4-5 months from the moment of germination to harvest.
Melon pear blooms in brushes, up to 20 buds each. This does not mean that all of them will bear fruit, even with proper agricultural technology. In mature plants planted in a greenhouse, from 20 to 40 berries can reach ripeness. For pepino grown in a greenhouse, 8-10 large fruits are considered a good result. The same result can be achieved at home, on a windowsill. Small-fruited specimens will produce more berries.
When sowing seeds, pepino is split. This means that even if you collect planting material from one fruit, grow it, harvest it, different bushes will have different berries not only in size, but also in taste. It is believed that specimens grown from cuttings are better than those obtained from seeds.And the fruits formed on the stepsons are sweeter than those collected from the main stem.
Often on the Internet or in print media you can find the statement that the germination of pepino seeds is almost 100%. It is not true. Biologists estimate the ability of melon pear seeds to germinate as low.

Important! Pepino is affected by all pests of nightshade crops, but he is especially annoyed by the whitefly. If you bring a plant from the street to ripen fruits or a mother bush into the house in the fall, and do not treat it with an insecticide, most likely, the melon tree will die. It is difficult to remove a whitefly at home, but infecting indoor flowers with a pest is very simple.

Vegetative propagation

Growing an exotic plant from cuttings at home is much easier than seed propagation. Before rooting seedlings, you must go through the following steps:

in the fall, large bushes are cut off by a third, after which they are dug up and placed in a container with earth;
during the dormant period, the dug plant is kept at a temperature of 8 degrees, while watering is reduced to a minimum;
at the end of February, the air temperature rises to 16 degrees, the plant at this time should receive systematic watering and feeding;
the buds that appear on the bush should be removed, and the young shoots should be separated and planted in a separate container with the ground;
for quick rooting, cuttings should be placed in a greenhouse or covered with foil.

Further care of the plant is associated with abundant watering and procedures against pests. Preventive measures are reduced to periodic examination and treatment of the plant with acaricidal preparations, if necessary.

Detailed information on growing pepino at home can be obtained from the video presented on the site.

Melon pear varieties adapted for cultivation in Russia

To date, more than 25 pepino varieties have been created, and their number is growing. Any cultivars can be grown in the greenhouse, only there it is possible to create ideal conditions for the melon pear. For greenhouses and open ground in Russia, two varieties are recommended - Israeli Ramses and Latin American Consuelo. It is quite easy to distinguish them from each other.

More information about the varieties Pepino and Consuelo, the appearance of the fruits can be found by watching the video:

Pepino Consuelo

The variety was adopted by the State Register in 1999, it is recommended for growing in film, capital greenhouses and open ground throughout Russia. Pepino Consuelo is an indeterminate (not requiring pinching of the tops) plant with purple stems, more than 150 cm in height, forming many stepsons. Small leaves with a solid edge are light green.

The flowers are white or white with purple stripes, similar to potato flowers. Reviews of the melon tree pepino Consuelo claim that the ovary is formed only by striped, monochromatic crumbled.

120 days after the emergence of shoots, the first fruits ripen, weighing from 420 to 580 g. When fully ripe, their color is yellow-orange, on the sides there are vertical purple or lilac stripes and strokes.

The shape of the fruit resembles a heart, the top is dull, the skin is thin, smooth, the surface is slightly ribbed. The walls are up to 5 cm thick. The light yellow pulp is sweet, juicy, soft, with a strong melon aroma.

The yield of commercial size fruits in heated greenhouses reaches 5 kg per sq. m. The germination rate of quality seeds is 70-80%.

Comment! In the Consuelo variety, the ovary is better formed in the spring.

Pepino Ramses

Melon tree pepino Ramses, the cultivation of which is recommended throughout Russia, was issued by the State Register in 1999. This is an indeterminate plant higher than 150 cm. Shoots are green, with purple spots, leaves are medium, with a solid edge, dark green.

The flowers are the same as those of Pepino Consuelo, but the Ramses variety begins to ripen earlier - 110 days after germination. Hanging fruits, weighing 400-480 g, cone-shaped with a sharp top. Reviews of the melon tree pepino Ramses claim that their color is cream, with lilac strokes and stripes, but the State Register indicates a yellow-orange color. The peel of the fruit is glossy, thin, the walls are 4-5 cm thick, the palatable sweet pulp is light yellow, with a faint melon aroma.

Productivity in the greenhouse - 5 kg / sq. m. Good quality seed germination - 50%.

Comment! The fruits of the Ramses variety set well in spring and autumn, this pepino is generally more resistant than Consuelo.

Beneficial features

It should be noted that pepino is not only a delicious fruit, but also very healthy. It contains a lot of ascorbic acid, iron, carotene, B vitamins and. It is also rich in useful sugar, which is well absorbed by the body. All this gives the right to classify pepino as a dietary product. In our time, interest in pepino is reviving, not so long ago special varieties adapted to Russian conditions were created "Ramses" and "Consuelo".

How to grow pepino at home

It is believed that fruits of different quality ripen on pepino grown from seeds and stepchildren. On plants propagated vegetatively, they are tastier, larger and sweeter. In the State Register, it is generally indicated separately that pepino reproduces by cuttings, and this in itself is a rarity - usually they do not give such information there.

Growing pepino from seeds at home

Melon pear seeds are split, and cuttings completely inherit the characteristics of the parent plant. But what should simple gardeners do? Where to get cuttings? Pepino seeds are on sale, and the stepchildren of herbaceous plants may dry out or wrinkle until they reach the mail. Even in pots, the rooted parts of soft brittle stems are inconvenient to transfer. We have to grow pepino from seeds. But if you like the culture, in order to improve the taste of the fruits, you can take the one with the best fruits as a mother plant.

Before growing pepino from seeds at home, you need to know:

Sowing is carried out from late November to early December. Only in this case will the pepino bloom and tie fruits of such a size that they do not crumble with the onset of a long daylight hours or at elevated (but not extreme) temperatures.
If you sow the seeds in the spring, they will sprout well and bloom actively. Perhaps the pepino will even tie the berries. But at best, single fruits will ripen, which will hide in the shade of leaves, where the temperature is several degrees lower. Pepino ovaries will stop dropping by the end of August. When there is a place for the winter keeping of a plant with a height of more than one and a half meters, which also requires a garter, this is not scary. Getting exotic fruits in winter is no less pleasant than in summer or autumn.
Pepino seed germination is defined as low. Where did the information come from that all planting material will hatch 100% and turn into an adult plant is unknown. Perhaps someone was just lucky, the person shared his joy, and the rest picked up. To avoid disappointment when germinating pepino seeds, do not expect miracles from them.

Growing pepino seedlings at home

It is believed that pepino seedlings should be grown like other nightshade crops. This is only partly true - after the appearance of two real leaves and a pick, the culture is really easy to care for. But while the seeds germinate, one should not deviate from the rules, they already have poor germination.

Experienced gardeners sow pepino on filter paper. There, the culture not only sprouts, but is also brought to the stage of picking. But for beginners, it is better not even to start growing seedlings in this way.Young pepinos on cellulose are easy to dry or pour, they are very fragile, break during transplantation, and it is difficult to separate thin roots from filter paper.

Better to go the traditional way:

For pepino seedlings intended for picking, you should choose transparent dishes, for example, plastic containers for products with holes made in the bottom. You can plant 2-3 seeds in peat cups. Then they will not need to dive. But in this case, you should take care of a closed transparent container, which will be used as a greenhouse for the first months.
Drainage is laid at the bottom, covered with a layer of sand, calcined in the oven or disinfected with potassium permanganate. Above is placed soil for seedlings, compacted (so that small seeds do not fall through), leveled, spilled with a solution of foundation.
Important! It is impossible to replace the foundation with potassium permanganate in this particular case.
The seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil.
The container for germination is covered with glass or transparent film.
Every day, the shelter is removed for ventilation, if necessary, the soil is moistened from a household spray bottle.
The temperature of the pepino content is 25-28⁰ С. Deviations from this range are unacceptable! If a suitable temperature cannot be obtained, it is best not to start germination.
At a distance of 10-15 cm from the surface of the covering material, a light source is installed, and even better - a phytolamp. Illuminated 24 hours a day all the time of seed germination and before picking. Pepino, planted in individual cups, is illuminated all day until the third true leaf appears.
Important! As the seedlings grow, the lamp should be raised higher.
Most seeds will sprout in a week, but some may sprout in a month.
A very important moment in the development of pepino is the shedding of the seed coat by the cotyledons. They cannot always free themselves on their own and rot. The sprouts need help: arm yourself with a magnifying glass and a sterile needle, carefully remove the shell. Care should be taken as the tiny pepinos are very fragile.
When the third true leaf appears, the seedlings are dived into individual cups. After a week, the backlight is reduced to 16 hours a day. For seedlings planted immediately in a separate container, the lighting is reduced when 2-3 true leaves are fully disclosed.
After a month, the backlight is reduced to 14 hours. By the beginning of March, they switch to the natural regime, of course, if the seedlings are on the windowsill. Otherwise, the lighting conditions are made as close to natural as possible.
The soil is watered regularly to keep it slightly damp. It should be borne in mind that with artificial backlighting, it dries out faster. Both a one-time lack of moisture and overflows, which can cause a black leg and the death of seedlings, are unacceptable.
The first feeding is applied two weeks after the pick. Pepino, sown immediately in individual containers, is fertilized in the phase of the third true leaf. To do this, use a special top dressing for seedlings or dilute the usual complex 2-3 times more than what is written in the instructions. Further fertilized every 2 weeks. From March, you can give full top dressing for nightshade crops. Fertilizers must be dissolved in water.
Important! Pepino in a pot is watered with water 10-12 hours before feeding.
The melon pear grows very slowly, when it has 6-8 true leaves, they transfer it to a container with a volume of 700-800 ml so as not to disturb the earthen ball.

Growing pepino from cuttings

The melon pear forms many stepchildren that need to be broken out regularly. They take root well and inherit maternal traits. So, even from one sprouted seed per season, you can get so many young plants that it will be enough to plant a small plantation.

Pepinos grown from cuttings and stepchildren develop much faster than those obtained through seedlings.It is enough to cut off the lower leaves and put a piece of the stem in water or plant it in light soil. Roots are formed quickly, the survival rate is high. There is no need to cover the cuttings with foil, but you need to spray it often.

Pepino, taken out of the ground together with an earthen lump and planted in a pot, is easy to store in an apartment. In the spring, cuttings are cut from the stems and rooted. Unlike the difficulties that seeds can deliver, even a teenager can cope with vegetative propagation of pepino.

Important! Rooted cuttings are watered only when the soil dries out to the depth of the first phalanx of the index finger.

Plant care

Growing at least at home, even on the street, does not cancel the plant's need for nutrients and trace elements. Every 10 days, carry out foliar dressing, it is advisable to add growth stimulants to the solution. Water the plants until the fruit appears as the soil dries. When the berries appear, the amount of moisture should be increased, but not "poured" the plants. From excess water, fungal infections attack the bushes, and the fruits crack. To regulate soil moisture, a hydrogel can be added under the roots. It is advisable to mulch the surface of the soil.

Whoever grew tomatoes in the country knows how quickly stepchildren grow. Pepino also belongs to the genus Solanaceae, and the extra shoots appear with incredible intensity. Inspect the bushes at least once a week and remove excess shoots. When the plants get stronger, it will be difficult to cut off the stepchildren with your hands; a knife or pruner may be required. Remember to treat tools with disinfectant solutions to avoid spreading the infection to all bushes.

Leave no more than 3 stems on each plant. Growing bushes with dense greenery is undesirable: there will be few fruits, and their taste will become worse. Wherever you grow a melon pear, when the stems grow, they need to be fixed on a support. At home, it is better to foresee in advance a structure for tying the stems.

Advice
For better fruit setting, shake the bushes during flowering. The pollen will spread more intensively over the plantings and pollinate more flowers.

It is very important not to be late with the harvest, otherwise the berries will lose their sweetness. When the fruits become soft and purple streaks appear on the peel, it's time to put the melon pear for storage. In the refrigerator, undamaged berries can remain for several months. Unripe fruits can be put in a warm room, where they will ripen. If there are many small ovaries left on the branches, transplant the plant into a bucket and take it to a room or greenhouse. In winter, you will still reap a new crop.

Optimal conditions for growing pepino

Melon pear will feel best in a greenhouse. But in the absence of a winter garden, pepino is grown on window sills, in greenhouses and in the open field. It is convenient to plant crops directly on the site in large pots with a capacity of 5-10 liters. But then you need to make side holes so that excess moisture comes out into the ground through them (stagnant water will surely destroy the plant), feed and water with caution.

Growing pepino in greenhouses is only allowed if the temperature is controlled. Often it is hot there up to 50⁰C, and this will cause the melon pear to shed its leaves and ovaries, even if they are old enough to ripen in summer.

In the open field, a place is chosen that is illuminated by the sun only in the morning. Otherwise, the fruits will be preserved only inside the bush or where they will be covered by other plants. Flowering will continue, but viable ovaries will appear by the end of August.

Important! Although pepino pollinates on its own, you can improve the yield and quality of the fruit by transferring pollen from flower to flower with a soft brush, or simply shaking the shoots.

Transplanting pepino into open ground is possible not earlier than May, when not only the ground warms up, but the night temperature will also be at least 10 ° C. According to reviews, the culture can withstand a short-term decrease to 8 ° C.

Pepino can be planted quite compactly, but do not forget that the plant can reach 1.5-2 m in height, and its shoots are fragile, herbaceous, less than a centimeter thick. Without a garter, a melon pear will simply collapse under its own weight, and, even if it does not break, will begin to take root. This will already lead to the appearance of dense thickets, which, not only bear fruit, will bloom scarcely.

Stepchildren should be regularly removed, otherwise all the forces of the pepino will be spent on the formation of new lateral shoots, and not on fruiting. The resulting cuttings root well, grow quickly, and under good conditions they can even catch up with the mother plant. The bottom leaves should also be removed to provide fresh air and facilitate watering.

It is recommended to fertilize Pepino every 2 weeks, and it is better to use special feeding for nightshade crops. If the green mass grows quickly, but flowering does not occur, you should skip top dressing - most likely, an excess of nitrogen has formed in the soil. This can even cause the fruit to drop.

You do not need to pinch the top of pepino - it is an indeterminate plant with unlimited growth. Under good conditions, 2-3 shoots are formed, which are directed upwards and tied up. If you do not remove the stepsons, the fruits will be less, however, according to reviews, they are much tastier than those formed on the main stem.

Important! Pepino should be looked after in the same way as an eggplant.

When the temperature drops and reaches 10 ° C, the melon pear is removed from the street. It often happens that the fruits at this time have just begun to form or did not even have time to reach technical ripeness. If the plant was planted directly in a pot, everything is simple: it is dug up, cleaned of the earth, placed in a beautiful pots and brought into the house.

Important! Before sending pepino indoors, it must be washed and treated with insecticides.

A melon pear planted in the ground without a container is carefully dug up and transplanted into a pot. The larger the earthen lump, the more likely it is that the plant, after changing the conditions of maintenance, will not shed leaves and fruits.

You can put the plant on the windowsill and wait for the ripening of fruits or the setting of new ones (the time is favorable for this). The mother plant, from which cuttings are supposed to be obtained in spring, are sent to a cool room, where the temperature does not drop below 10-15⁰ С.

Growing from cuttings

Growing from seeds is a very laborious process, if you have the opportunity to get the twigs of the plant, propagate pepino by cuttings. Shoots take root very easily, after a few days they will take root. You can cut off stepchildren from seedlings or take shoots from friends. This method is much more effective: plants develop faster, and from one bush you can get many shoots for planting.

If you don't want to mess with the seeds next year, take care of the cuttings in the fall. Cut off the fertile bushes by a third, plant them in large buckets and keep them at + 8⁰ until February. Water sparingly only when the soil is dry. No other care is required during the cold season.

By the end of winter, move the bucket to a room with a temperature of + 16⁰, feed it and make watering more frequent and abundant. Do not allow buds to appear, cut them off. Cut off emerging stepchildren and plant them in seedling soil. For rooting, cuttings need high humidity. Cover the boxes with plastic wrap or make a plastic bottle cap for each plant.

Diseases and pests

Pepino is susceptible to all diseases and pests that affect nightshade crops, but it also has its own problems:

the plant can destroy the Colorado potato beetle;
pepino is susceptible to spider mites, aphids and whiteflies;
seedlings with waterlogging often have a black leg;
overflows of adult plants cause a variety of rot;
with a lack of copper, late blight develops.

Pepino should be inspected regularly and, if necessary, treated with appropriate fungicides or insecticides. Spraying is mandatory before transplanting into a pot. If the problems began after the pepino was brought into the house, the fungicides are used the same as in the open field, it is recommended to choose Aktelik from the insecticides.

Harvesting

Usually sown in November-December, pepino sets the fruit by May. In this case, the harvest takes place in June-July. The fruits ripen unevenly, since flowering lasts a long time, especially if the stepsons are not removed. Unfavorable conditions can cause pepino to shed ovaries and leaves that grow back over time. Even with summer flowering, single fruits do not crumble, but reach ripeness. Most often they are hidden between the leaves.

Comment! If the pepino is grown as a perennial crop, the second wave of ovaries begins in August and lasts until October. In different varieties, the main fruiting can be both summer and winter.

According to reviews, the taste of overripe pepino is mediocre. The fruits reach technical maturity when the skin turns creamy or yellow-orange, and lilac streaks begin to appear on the sides. At this time, pepino can be removed from the bush, wrapped in paper and left to ripen in a dark, well-ventilated place. The fruits will reach consumer maturity in 1-2 months.

Pepino reaches full ripeness as soon as its color appears completely, and when pressed, the fruit is slightly squeezed.

Important! There is no mass collection of melon pears. The fruits are plucked as they ripen.

How to eat the pepino fruit

In Japan and South America, pepino is eaten fresh by peeling it off and removing the seed core. New Zealanders add fruits to meat, fish, make sauces and desserts from them. Pepino can be added to compotes, jams. Due to the high content of pectins, the fruit produces an excellent jelly.

Interesting! Unripe pepino is edible and tastes like a cucumber.

Fruits at the stage of technical ripeness can be stored for up to 2 months until they ripen.