Cucumber - Sandita

Melothria scabra
70 Days

Also known as Cucamelon, Mouse Melon, and Mexican Sour Gherkin, but I like the Spanish name for it. Delicate climbing vines make grape-sized fruits that look like miniature watermelons and have a slightly citrusy cucumber flavour.

The plants are a little slow to get started, but can grow six feet long or more, so trellising is recommended - I use a short 4' tall trellis and let them flop over the top. The young plants can be a bit fragile, so I start them indoors and sow 3 or 4 seeds per cell or soil block. That way the seedlings provide support for each other as they grow, and it's no big deal if you accidentally damage a plant or two. Don't start them too early - if the plants tangle up with their neighbours in the tray it's hard to get them unstuck. A month before you plan to set them out in the garden is plenty, I start them a little bit after I get my melons going.