Pepino melon or pear

Pepino melon or pear - Solanum muricatum Aiton
Pepino melon or pear
INTRODUCTIONPepino, Solanum muricatum Aiton, belongs to the Solanaceae or nightshade family like tomato, eggplant, potatoes and peppers. Pepino originated in the Andes and was already known by the Indians. It has long been a cultivated plant in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and are also grown in New Zealand.
Melo Pears are the fruit of Solanum muricatum to 90 cm high and 70 cm wide can be. Sometimes also called the melon pear melon apple. The alternately arranged, green, soft leaves are oblong and up to 15 cm long and contrast beautifully with the flowers and fruits. During the flowering period in early May to September, the focused clusters witpaars striped, autogamous flowers in the leaf axils.
In the conservatory you should bear in mind that fruit set is optimal at temperatures between 18 and 27 ° C. At temperatures above 30 ° C, much lower fruit set. In late June the first fruits appear. These berries are round to oval and are 12 cm long with a diameter of 8 cm. The fruits are green, but will eventually purple stripes and spots like the flowers. Like tomatoes ripen the fruit is best to plant in full sun. The pepino is ripe when the fruit springs along with a gentle finger pressure. The ripe fruits yellow with purple stripes and colors weighing 150-500 grams.
FRESH FRUITFrom August, the first fruits harvest ripe and ready to eat.The melon pear has a fairly thin skin and very juicy. The fruit rich in vitamin C (35 mg per 100 g) and sweet, pale yellow flesh. The subtle flavor is reminiscent of a blend of pear and melon. The fruit can uitlepelen but they are also delicious in salad or processed into jam. Furthermore, the refreshing fruit coulis also suitable for sorbets. The fragrant, ripe fruits are increasingly available in shops and markets.The melon pear does well as solitary as a patio plant and bedding plant. The plant thrives in tubs or pots from 30 to 50 cm wide in a sunny location. It is a perennial, perennial, but then you have them in a frost-free place overwinter.

Bountiful harvest
CAREThe plants get into the regular season like extra fertilizer so many good fruits to form. It is important to choose a fertilizer with low nitrogen content. Too much nitrogen creates a lush leaf growth at the expense of fruiting. Regular but moderate watering are recommended. Just like tomatoes, you may also apply to pepino leaf harvest from mid-September. This allows more sunlight to get the fruit to ripen making them better. After harvesting the fruits ripen even further. Propagation of pepino is quite adept at cutting, also from seeds (1 seed = 3 mm) is possible. There are seed stand and seedless varieties. A plant can be propagated from cuttings after four months as a flower producing plant grown from seed will bloom months later.