Free garden planner — save plants, plan beds, and get sowing reminders for your spot.
Sign up freeCucumis metuliferus
Kiwano (Cucumis metuliferus), also known as African horned cucumber or horned melon, is an annual vine in the Cucurbitaceae family native to Southern Africa. The distinctive fruit has horn-like spines on its orange skin and contains lime-green, soft, jelly-like flesh that is edible and traditionally consumed as a snack or in salads across Africa, particularly as a water source during dry seasons in the Kalahari Desert.
🐛 Prone to: Aphids, Whitefly.
Attract Hoverflies, Lacewings, Ladybirds, Parasitic wasps to keep them in check — plant African MarigoldGreat, AngelicaGood and AniseGood nearby.
Physalis philadelphica
vegetable
Thrives in the same full sun, moderate water conditions as Kiwano
Start Kiwano indoors about 4 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 6 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in full sun, spaced about 60 cm apart. It is frost-tender, so don't plant out early. Expect to harvest in roughly 120 days.
Water: Medium · Height: 200 cm · Soil: Well-draining soil; tolerates a range of soil types from sandy to loamy.
