pepino

[orflo]

Anybody growing pepino? It's easy to grow, needs a bit of a longer growing season compared to tomatoes, but I always end up with plants loaded with fruits. The taste could be improved somewhat, but it's very juicy, thirst-lessing, and with a little sugar or stevia added, it's worth eating (and growing). The best way to reproduce the plants is by making cuttings at the end of the season, and overwintering them on a frost-free sunny windowshell (or wherever). The cuttings root up almost as easily as sweet potatoes. There is some seed production as well, but plants were probably more selected on propagating by cuttings ( it seems most South American vegetales are selected on this), the fruits contain very few seeds.
Plants can easily be tub-grown as well, they are quite decorative when they are loaded with fruits (damn, forgot to take a picture last year), and pretty flowers:

I also grow tzimbalo, which is in fact a wild ancestor of pepino, although the flowers look really different:

the berries are quite a bit smaller, but look just like the pepinos. I never got some good-tasting berries though, they should become sweet, but I always end up with acid-tasting berries , I'm trying them in the greenhouse this year, maybe that will improve their taste,
Frank

[canadamike]

Ever grown narangilla?

[orflo]

Yes, I have naranjilla, but the variety I had never produced fruits, I'm trying an other variety this year, which is more spiny than the one I used to have. I tasted the berries once, in a botanical garden, and they are really good . And the plants are beautiful!!!They need a moderate heat (20-25 degrees celsius), a long growing season and big tubs (frostfree of course). They prefer a semi-shade spot, even over here . I have some pictures, but I can't find them right now, next time

[canadamike]

don't bother with the pictures, I know them. I gave my seeds to Alan I think as he has a greenhouse, I never bothered planting them, But I plan building a greenhouse this summer.

I have heard that pepino taste complaint many times, so I also gave my seeds to Alan ;D ;D ;D

As they say in garage sales ; '' better in your basement than mine''

[biorag]

Hello Frank !

I grow pepino, the only one we can get in France.

I know that some cultivars from New Zealand are better than this one. If you know a way to get seeds, I'm interested !

[orflo]

I will try, Gérard, there are a few varieties available in Germany, although naming them seems to be difficult, but I'll search for the New Zealand stuff... New Zealand is however a difficult place to find seeds, most of the seeds seem to be destined for professional farming, and aren't available for general public. I was there a few years ago, and I searched in vain for yacon, oca (their name for this is 'New Zealand yam'), strawberry guava, and so on...I didn't find a thing , I'm going to search for the 'right' channel

[canadamike]

You should maybe ask Raymondo...he might have contacts

[richardw]

Pepino's are a fruit i grow every year which i really really like, i normally winter over a cutting but grow it in a large pot so the bush is close to setting fruit when it goes out in spring. They tend to only set fruit at the cooler parts of the growing season, so spring flowering gives us fruit in summer while autumn flowering gives fruit just before the first frosts. Yesterday ive made a discovery about them which is rather interesting, as you can see in the photo the bush has been cut down by at least 10 frosts so far this winter, but under the foliage there was about a dozen fruit still unaffected and still tasted as good as the summer fruit, would never had thought the fruit would do that.

Anyone interested in seed PM me.

[blueadzuki]

So you grow the standard heart shaped one. Ever tried the long icicle shaped purple (well purpler) one? I've heard that is better (though I don't care for either too melon-y for me)

[richardw]

No only the heart shaped. These three are all we have to choose from here in NZ because of import resections, www.edible.co.nz/varieties.php?fruitid=43_Pepino_Incredible%20Ruby%20%E2%84%A2#Incredible%20Ruby%20%E2%84%A2 the one i have is El Camino, Incredible Ruby looks an interesting variety

[blueadzuki]

Ruby looks sort of like what I was describing (maybe what I saw was longer, but as I was seeing it in a fairly major chain supermarket, the odds it was a common variety are high)

[richardw]

Wondering if the type youve seen in the supermarket has seed blue , they tend to have bugger all seed.

[blueadzuki]

I know it had seed because I remember saving the seed (I just don't remember if I ended up keeping it long term, as I said, I don't like the taste of pepino)

[steev]

Good point: I don't recall them being seedy, maybe they need to mature beyond edible?

[richardw]

Yes ive found them rather tasteless if not fully mature