Cucamelon
Vegetable · warm season · also called mouse melon, mexican sour gherkin
When to plant
- Start seeds indoors about 6 weeks before planting out.
- Plant outdoors about 2 weeks after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 70 days after planting out.
Grape-sized, lime-tart cucumbers. Very productive once going.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 12 in (trellised)
- Soil temperature
- At least 65°F
- Time to harvest
- About 70 days
- Containers
- At least 3 gallons
- Plant family
- Squash family (cucurbits)
- Harvest per plant
- About 1.5 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 4 years
Companions
Keep apart: Potato. Potatoes and squash-family crops compete for water and share pests.
Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Afternoon wilting isn't always thirst. Squash and cucumber leaves often droop in the afternoon heat and perk up by evening. If they're still wilted the next morning, check the soil, and look for vine borers or wilt.
- Move crop families every year. Pests and diseases build up in the soil. Don't plant tomatoes where tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or eggplant grew last year: they're one family and share the same problems.
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