Cucamelon Plants

Cucamelon Plants

The cucumber variety with bags of personality!

Cucamelon has graced the dishes of many a TV chef, these tiny watermelon lookalikes have a refreshing flavour and bags of personality. It is no wonder that this delightful variety is a best seller! Ideal for grow bags, pots, a greenhouse, or in the ground. Harvest when grape-sized and still firm to touch, this delicious cucumber will be ready from late July through to the first frost. They are ignored by pests, resistant to drought & perfectly happy to grow outdoors in the UK, given a sheltered sunny site.

These tiny watermelon look-a-likes from Central America are small enough to fit into a teaspoon, yet bite into one and the flavour is pure cucumber with a fresh tinge of lime. Popular since pre-Columbian times, these rampant trailing vines produce a constant stream of fruit throughout the summer, known in Mexico as ‘Sandíitas de Raton’, literally “Little Mouse Watermelons”. Despite their exotic origins and adorable appearance, Cucamelons are much easier to grow than regular cucumbers.

How to use your Cucamelons

A must-have for any keen vegetable grower, cucamelons can be used in just the same way as traditional cucumbers; in salads, pickled, whole, or why not explore their cocktail-enhancing prowess and give your Martini a delicious new twist!

Caring for your Cucamelons

Cucamelons can also be treated like a perennial providing you with fruit year-after-year. In late autumn once the fruiting period is over, lift the cucamelon's main radish like root and store in barely moist compost in a garage or shed over winter. Plant out again in early April to achieve early fruiting.

Growing Information

Once the danger of frost has passed they can be planted outdoors 30-40cm (12-16") apart providing a cane support. The plants can also be grown in the greenhouse in grow bags, large pots or in the border. Water and feed regularly using a liquid tomato fertiliser. Once the main shoot has reached a height of 2.5m (8'), pinch out the growing tip. The side shoots growing tips should be pinched out when they reach 40cm (16") in length. The plants will start to fruit in July through to late September. Cucamelons are ready to pick when they are the size of olives or small grapes. Leaving them on the plant longer can result in a slightly bitter flavour and a soggy texture. The plants are perennial and produce tubers. In late autumn lift the tubers and store them in barely moist soil in a cool frost-free shed or garage.