Pepino plant. Pepino (melon pear) - cultivation and care

In the markets of many South American countries, pepino is a familiar and ordinary fruit, much like our potatoes. But in European and Asian countries, it is just beginning to gain popularity, and even then more as an exotic gift for a gourmet or a spicy component in the dishes of famous restaurateurs.

You rarely see such a fruit in our stores, but enthusiastic gardeners are already growing pepino on the windowsills of city apartments, in greenhouses and even in open ground!

Botanical description

How to grow in our conditions?

Our gardeners, having learned about the multitude useful properties of this plant, people often wonder how to grow pepino with us. The most successful and adapted to our conditions varieties are Ramses and Consuelo.

Melon pear is grown through seedlings. Sowing seeds is carried out from the end of January or at the beginning of February in a moistened soil mixture for tomatoes, scattering over the surface and lightly sprinkling with soil. Then the crops are covered with glass or film. After the shoots appear, they are thinned out, leaving the strongest ones. When the seedlings grow to 15-20 cm, they are pinched, and after the appearance of lateral shoots, they are transplanted into a container with a large volume. After the spring return frosts have passed, pepino seedlings are transplanted into the greenhouse, continuing to care for it, like ordinary tomatoes. This culture does not really like heat, the optimum temperature for it is from +15 ° C to +30 ° C with air humidity of about 75%.

cutting

In addition to seed propagation, pepino can be propagated by cuttings. To do this, it is necessary to have a mother plant that wintered in an insulated cellar or on a loggia. Starting from mid-February, cuttings can be cut off by cutting off the top of the shoot with seven leaves. Be sure to remove two bottom sheet, and the rest are shortened by half to reduce evaporation. If there are few mother bushes, then cuttings can also be obtained from the lower part of the shoot, leaving five internodes.

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Description of the fruit

Pepino is a shrub of the Solanaceae family with fruits of the same name. The fruit is popularly called a sweet cucumber or a melon pear, because it tastes like a melon, a cucumber, and a pumpkin at the same time. native of South America today widely distributed in Chile and New Zealand.

The fruits of this fruit are excellent in size, shape, and color. Some of them are painted bright yellow with purple hues. The flesh of a ripe pepino is either yellow or colorless. The fruit is juicy, with a sweet and sour taste. Vitamin C gives it sourness. In addition, the fruits are endowed with a specific and rich aroma, in their center there are seeds that are easily removed. Pepino inflorescences resemble potato ones, and the stem with leaves itself resembles pepper.

Beneficial features

Pepino fruit contains carotene, pectins and iron, a complex of B-group vitamins, A and PP. It is also rich in iodine, therefore it is indispensable in the diet of people suffering from thyroid diseases. A high content of potassium can serve as an excellent prevention of heart disease.

Due to the low acidity, the fruit can be safely consumed by those who have problems with the digestive tract. The peel of such fruits contains anthocyanins, which have antimicrobial, antiseptic and even anti-cancer effects. A huge amount of healthy fiber has the best effect on the functioning digestive system will help prevent constipation.

Due to its low calorie content and high water content, pepino is famous for its dietary properties. The pulp of the fruit is also used in the treatment of bronchitis and skin problems.

Features of the pepino fruit

Pepino is widely used in cooking. A great variety of dishes are prepared from its fruits, but often a variety of desserts. It can serve as a useful filling for baking, give a new taste to the usual ice cream, as well as jelly or mousse. It is noteworthy that in some countries spicy sauces, signature soups and unusual side dishes are cooked from its pulp. meat dishes or seafood.

Fruit fruits are dried, frozen, preserved, and also pickled like cucumbers. Slightly overripe fruits are used to make refreshing drinks, preserves or jams. Based on reviews about it, the fruit is incredibly popular in the culinary of those states where it grows.

Pepino - new culture for our gardens: grows like a tomato; leaves like peppers; flowers like potatoes; seeds are similar to eggplant seeds and physalis; to taste - melon; pulp, like a pear, with the aroma of strawberries. And all this is pepino.

In the mountainous regions of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, this plant has been grown for more than a thousand years. interesting culture. In the 18th century, pepino, or as it is also called, melon pear, was brought to Europe, and in the 19th century to Russia. Melon pear taste the king liked Alexander III, he ordered to distribute it to the greenhouses of Russia. One seed cost a penny, and a rooted stepson as much as one and a half rubles. For comparison, we note that for a "three-ruble note" at that time it was possible to buy a cow.

However, at the beginning of this century, the plant disappeared from Russia and European countries, perhaps because in the temperate zone it rarely produces seeds and reproduces only by rooted stepchildren, which could cause difficulties. And only in last years in Israel and Holland, they began to grow melon pear in protected and less often open ground.

The melon pear belongs to the nightshade family and is somewhat similar to its “relatives”, having borrowed a little from each: leaves from pepper, flowers from potatoes, seeds from eggplant and physalis, and in terms of growth strength of the aerial part and roots of pepino, perhaps compared to eggplant.
Its fruits are initially green, ripening, becoming yellow-orange with lilac longitudinal stripes. Stripes appeared - it means that our "pear" is ripe.

Fruits in biological ripeness are very tender (spots appear from impact, the pulp rots). They are at the same time smell of melon and strawberry. The pulp is very juicy, non-acidic, in texture recalls the best varieties pears. Pepino, like nutmeg, has thick flesh and a small seed chamber, with few or no seeds. The contents of the seed chamber, unlike the melon, are edible. The dense skin that needs to be peeled off allows unripe fruits to ripen in the refrigerator for up to a month and a half.

The shape of the fruit is varied: from ovoid to rounded flat. Their mass depends on the variety and growing conditions. There are a lot of sugars and vitamin C in fruits, pectin substances are even more than in strawberry physalis. Fragrant jam is made from pepino with the addition of lemon juice. In a heated greenhouse, you can get about 6 kg of fruit per plant.

How to grow pepino

Pepino is a late-ripening plant, it passes before fruit ripening: - 130-150 days from germination, and 100-120 days from rooting of stepchildren. Seed germination is unusually low for us - 30%. You can sow them for seedlings at the end of January, but you can’t do without additional illumination. Seedlings for the first month and a half grow extremely slowly, but they do not stretch, like a tomato.
It is much more convenient and faster to propagate pepino with stepchildren. They easily root in a peat-sand (1:1) mixture.
The plant is warm and photophilous. Agrotechnics of seedlings and adult plants is the same as for tomatoes.

On permanent place 90-120 day old seedlings (propagated vegetatively or by seeds) are planted in an unheated film greenhouse at the same time as other nightshade crops.
6 or 3 plants are placed per square meter - depending on the chosen method of formation. By placing 6 plants and forming them into one stem, you will get more early harvest, which is important for areas with short summer. You can plant 3 plants per square meter and leave 1-2 stepchildren on them (formation in 2-3 stems), but this will delay fruiting.
Important! Pasynkovanie pepino (like a tomato) is required, otherwise there will be few fruits.

Garter needed to a peg or to a trellis, since the stems break easily under the weight of the fruit.
From flowering to fruit ripening approximately 75 days.
During flowering, airing is required (from the heat, pepino drops buds), and in dry sunny weather, light tapping with a stick on the trellis for better pollination. On cold nights, flowers and buds fall off.

Flower color - indicator favorable conditions. If the flowers are blue, lilac - the plant develops normally, and if something is wrong, the flowers turn white.

The main pests of pepino in the greenhouse are aphids and spider mites.

Description of two varieties submitted for state variety testing

Ramses
Obtained by selection from varieties growing in Israel. Differs in high drought resistance. The flowers are beautiful, the inflorescences are large and fragrant. The stem is ribbed, green, with purple strokes. The variety is late-ripening, large-fruited. Fruits weighing 250-750 g, ovoid with a "nose". Rare pale lilac stripes, sometimes a thin mesh appear on the fruit at the end of ripening. As a rule, large fruits contain seeds (15-100 pieces). The taste of the fruit is good, rarely with a slight peppery flavor.

Consuelo
A native of South America. The main benefit is great taste. It is more precocious than Ramses, but also more complex in culture: it does not tolerate drought well, it is prone to root rot. Get seeds of this variety at middle lane failed so far, so vegetative reproduction - the only way plant conservation. The rooting rate of stepchildren and the rate of root regrowth are much lower than those of Ramses. Consuelo has delicate hairless leaves, thin purple stems. Fruits weigh 70-100, sometimes up to 650 g.
Bright lilac stripes appear long before ripening, the ripened fruit is yellow. Overripe, the fruits soften so much that they can be drunk through a straw, like a cocktail. Fruits collected at the beginning of ripening (slightly yellow with bright stripes, sometimes covered with a lilac blush) are able to ripen. Fruits have a shape from round to elongated-cylindrical. Distinctive feature: blunt fruit apex.

We grown pepino in the Moscow region in a glazed winter greenhouse. Plants grown from seedlings from rooted stepchildren also grew well in the open ground near the south side of the house.

Of course, pepino requires skill, diligence, but the plant is unusual and has a wonderful taste. Try it!

Growing pepino as a room culture

Pepino perennial and like pepper good lighting(if the windows face south, southwest or southeast) can grow and bear fruit on the windowsill and balcony. The plant is deciduous, in winter it needs a dormant period - about one and a half months in a cool place (4 ° above zero). Pots are kept in a dry room with minimal watering - just so that the roots do not dry out.
In February, they are transferred to the room, they begin to water, and when new shoots and stepsons grow (there are many of them), such a plant can be used as a mother liquor for cuttings.

N. Gidaspov, breeder,
Based on the materials of the magazine "Private farm", 1999.

Now it is quite possible to grow an unusual melon pear on a home windowsill. It is enough to know how to care for unusual exotics in home breeding conditions.

Pepino: description of the melon pear

At home, you can grow a fruitful bush. On the branches of a plant, fruits ripen pear-shaped. In greenhouse conditions reaches 1 m in height. The leaves grow large, acquire an oval shape. Their length is about 15 cm.

The plant itself is a lignified perennial up to a meter high.. Despite the pronounced fruity taste of the fruit, this plant comes from the family to which they belong, and.

Therefore, the leaves look like large oval pepper leaves, the inflorescences look like a small color (about 20 pieces on one branch). To taste, the fruits absorbed all the sweetness of the ripe with a banana note in the aroma.

In the process of ripening, the fruits acquire a yellow or creamy peel, decorated with longitudinal lilac, brown, gray or green stripes. The average fruit of a homemade pepino in a pot ranges in weight from 200 to 700 g.

The cut fruit has a honey-yellow or brown flesh with a pink tint. Melon pear has an unprecedented juiciness. Forming fruits from a botanical point of view - real berries.

In our area, two varieties are most common: "Ramses" and "Consuelo".

The first one has the following properties:

• excellent resistance to external factors;
• good fruitfulness;
• early ripening of pear-shaped fruits yellow-orange with a hint of pepper.

"Consuelo" has a closer taste to melon. Bright yellow pears grow with lilac stripes. But this variety does not withstand changes in temperature and humidity. Both varieties are adapted to growing indoors.

When the fruits ripen, they become yellow or cream, have longitudinal lilac, brown, gray or green stripes. Fruit weight - from 200 to 700 g. Honey-yellow or pinkish-brown flesh is very juicy, has a delicate sweet and sour taste.

Nightshade berries are a storehouse of vitamins C, B1, PP, carotene, iron, pectin. Before eating, it is desirable to peel the fruits from the outer skin.

Necessary conditions for growing pepino in the house

Breeders have about 25 varieties of this plant. For growing on a home windowsill, you need to create optimal conditions for the growth and development of pepino:

• provide high level air humidity;
• monitor the temperature in different time days.

Growing this unusual fruit can turn into a real experiment. The plant bears fruit much better in a cool environment. But at the same time, there is a risk that the fruits will not ripen and lose weight.

Lighting for growing pepino in a pot

In a week or two, when grown at home, roots appear from seeds in pepino. At this time, a vessel with planting material is placed under a conventional electric lamp for round-the-clock illumination until the formation of cotyledons.

After a month, light feeding is gradually reduced to 14 hours a day. Toward the beginning of spring, the plant is transferred to the normal light regime of the day, without the use of lighting devices.

Air humidity and temperature

The most optimal conditions for air humidity for planted stepchildren are up to 90%. This indicator can be provided in a greenhouse or in a pot under a film, glass or plastic cap.

It is very useful to ventilate the room. This will not only contribute to better pollination of the growing bush, but will protect the plants from diseases.

Soil Requirements

"Melon cucumbers" prefer light fertile soil with neutral acidity. Choose a light, moisture- and breathable substrate without excess nitrogen for planting seedlings in home pots.

How to plant pepino at home

In our climate zone it is not always possible to get high quality seeds . They are often immature. Experienced gardeners claim that pepino, when grown from seeds, bears fruit later than sprouts from cuttings at home. If the cuttings are planted at the end of winter, then at the end of summer you can get the first ripe pears with melon flavor.

Planting pepino seeds

Seeds are sown at the end of the autumn season. Then, before the first spring warmth, the sprout will already get stronger and will be ready for the ovary of the first fruits. Seeds do not germinate well in the ground. For sprouting, it is better to put them on damp toilet paper or tobacco paper, which has the best moisture-retaining properties.

Planting material on a paper sheet is placed in a shallow ceramic or plastic container to avoid rapid evaporation of moisture. For germination, use Petri dishes or small dishes with lids. Instead of paper, you can use cosmetic cotton pads.

The vessel is covered with an ordinary transparent film or bag. The ceramic bowl is covered with glass. Then it is placed in a dark place until the first sprouts appear. Paper or equivalent moistened with water every three days. As soon as the first seeds hatch, you can move the container to a bright place ( temperature regime- not lower than +24…+26 °С. Seedlings dive only after the full disclosure of the cotyledons.

Experienced gardeners know the secrets of how to grow a fruitful pepino bush from seeds extracted from a mature fruit. It is important to ensure that the "pear" is not plucked in an unripe form - there is a risk that the seeds will not sprout. To avoid such a risk, it is better to purchase ready-made selected planting material at the garden store. When buying, preference is given to seeds of the correct rounded shape and light shades of structure.

Pepino cuttings

Vegetative propagation of pepino has gained its popularity due to the more enhanced growth of young shoots. Breeding pepino seedlings causes many difficulties. It is much easier to root stepchildren.

"Children" already on the third day take small roots. The stepchildren from the mother pepino are rooted in peat soil in February. Stepchildren from monthly seedlings store all the identifying features of a particular variety. They bloom and bear fruit, ahead of seedlings from seeds in time.

At the end of February, stepchildren are carefully separated and planted in light soil. You should immediately prepare yourself for the fact that the pepino melon pear bush will grow slowly even if all the rules of cultivation are observed.

How to care for a homemade pepino

Place pots with light-loving bushes on the windowsills of the southern windows of an apartment or house. Beware of the abundant. It is important to maintain the desired temperature during the day and at night. When hypothermia, the plant can shed its ovaries of future pear-shaped fruits.

Important! For maximum cross-pollination flowering bushes shake slightly. On outdoors when landing on suburban area the bees will take care of it.

The plant develops especially large inflorescences. From time to time they can break, not supporting their own weight. Pepino buds should be tied in time to the upstream node of the stem in a pot - this is one of the key procedures in care.

Watering pepino

Water the bushes as the topsoil dries up. To reduce the number of waterings and protect against soil at the base of the stem, mulch with rotted sawdust. Pepino loves moderate watering even at home.

How to fertilize a melon pear

For digging, a previously harvested rotted mullein (1:10) and is brought in.
7 days after planting the bushes, the ground part of the plant is fed with a solution rich in trace elements:

• "Symbiont".

Formation of the pepino bush

To form a beautiful crown, follow the following rules:

1. With a strong growth of the bushes, their base is tied to wooden or plastic supports.
2. A heavily bushy plant requires periodic removal of "stepsons". If this is not done, the fruits will be formed with some delay.
3. To give a lush crown accuracy, pruning is used. The best option trimming a bush - to fit it to the shape of a tree.

Did you know? Every inhabitant of the East knows what pepino is and how to grow it at home. For modern Japanese, the fruits of pear-shaped berries are a favorite present. It is customary to wrap it in paper and put it in gift box tied with a ribbon.

For an adult pepin bush, the loss of a few mature leaves will not cause damage, but on the contrary, it will contribute to good insolation. Interestingly, New Zealand, Australian and California scientists are developing new varieties of this berry in modern laboratory conditions. This helps them to better understand how to grow attractive pepino fruit for export to other countries.

The main diseases and pests of pepino in a pot

Until that time, domestic breeders have not brought out full classification pests and for this rare plant. In many countries, pepino remains a mystery to the local population: many residents do not even know what it is.

Our summer residents identified certain types of pests that infect uterine specimens in winter period:

• green peach or gourd.

Important! Experts have noticed an increased vulnerability of the above species to the optimal drug consumption rates for the treatment of other nightshade crops. Treat one stem with the selected solution to avoid intoxication of the plant.

From composition-compatible products, you can prepare a universal solution for the destruction of the above pests. It is important to plan this procedure before moving the potted bushes into the room. have a not very pleasant smell, which is still for a long time remains on the branches and stem of the bush and the topsoil.