Plant · P-483

Kiwano

Cucumis metuliferus

Kiwano is a frost-tender annual climbing melon from semi-arid Africa, grown for the spiny orange fruit and its green, jelly-like pulp, sold as kiwano or African horned melon. It's a true heat crop - seed barely germinates below 8 C, and sowing date decides everything: an early planting can top 46 tonnes per hectare while one two months later sets no fruit at all before the season ends. The fruit keeps unusually well at room temperature, staying firm for three months, but chills and rots within weeks in a cold store, and beyond eating it fresh the plant is also grown as a disease-resistant rootstock for grafting cucumber.