Achocha (Cyclanthera pedata var pedata), packet of 5 seeds, organic
$3.95
Family: Cucumber (Cucurbitaceae)
Annual, 100 days to fruits
(Slipper Gourd, Caigua, Caihua)
Annual cultigen from the Andean region, vining to 15 feet, leaves palmate, flowers male and female, yellow. Yields upright, slipper-shaped, smooth-skinned fruits that are hollow, occurring in great number, all along the stem, pushing up from the nodes. The fruits are about the size of a medium cucumber–around 6 inches from base to tip, and fat enough to fit comfortably in the hand, while several of them fit less comfortably in the hand. These fruits are edible fresh (scoop out seeds and eat like a cucumber, or whir into smoothies) or cooked (the hollow shape lends the achocha to use in the casserole dish, stuffed with cheese and herbs, covered with sauce.) The fruits of this cultivar are tasty and sweet, with no “cucumber bitters” aftertaste. The plant prefers a cool, moist and fertile root system and responds admirably well to applications of coir, compost, and also frequent watering. Trellis. Many state that the plant does best in cool and shady circumstances, but I grow them very successfully in a full-sun exposure, and I believe they give more fruit when grown in this manner. Sow the seed indoors around the last frost date and work the plants up in pots. Transplant outdoors once the weather has truly settled. Space plants 3 feet apart.
5 seeds per packet, certified organically grown
In stock
Question
Deborah Maldonado –
How many days to maturation?
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Richo Cech –
hi deborah, if you click on the photo then you get the monograph that tells you things like that. anyhow its 100 days to fruits. r
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Kuldeep –
Can it grow in Zone 5 ,I was able to get fruits in one season , tried next but failed to get anything due to early frost.l
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Richo Cech –
hello kuldeep, thanks for writing. I have this listed at 100 days which is my experience with it, but other sellers are saying it matures faster than that. Could be that I have cold nights and dry days here and with warm nights and humid days the plant matures faster. Sounds like in your situation starting indoors before last frost would really help. I’ve done this and it does work. I have trouble getting them to mature out here, too, and I’m a zone 8. like anything with gardening, it can be weather dependent. richo
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Terry (verified owner) –
The vines grew and grew and grew. I kept waiting for fruits, and was about to give up when I found some tiny slipper-shaped fruits. I like them raw, and find that they are best eaten small before the seeds start to develop–at which stage I put them into salads. I can see why there are only 5 seeds in a packet. Who needs more than one? I haven’t tried them cooked yet, but I now have so many larger fruits that I’ll need to try that. Do trellis them. The plant that I allowed to sprawl instead of climb did not grow nearly so well.
Thank you!
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