Rough melotria (mouse melon): benefits and harms, description, cultivation and care with photos

Exotic plants can be increasingly found in summer cottages. Rough melotria is one of them, but it is interesting not only for its originality. Melothria is edible and has he alth benefits as well.

Exotic in the garden

You understand that Melotria is a distant relative of our garden gourd plants when you recognize the second name of exotic - mouse melon. This is a vine that grows wild in Africa. Melotria is a member of the pumpkin family, loves the humidity of the tropics. Our gardeners have learned how to grow African cucumber in greenhouses, apartments, open ground.

Liana is covered with triangular leaves, their color is rich, bright green. African women can reach up to 3 meters in length, which is impressive. Melon fruits are miniature from 1.5 to 2 cm. Oval shape similar to miniature cucumbers, covered with hard skin with bright stripes.

Advice. Harvest mini cucumbers every 2-3 days. Hanging on the whip, they become sweeter.

Melotria has small male and female flowers, funnel-shaped, yellow. Female flowers are solitary, male flowers are grouped in bunches. Melotria pleases with fruits in July. Mouse melon tastes like cucumber, but sour.

The decorative qualities of mouse melon make it attractive to landscape designers. Liana decorates not only apartments, but also offices. The productivity of Melotria is high. The collected fruits are eaten, they successfully treat various diseases.The benefits of cucumbers are determined by their chemical composition.

Description of ingredients

In the composition of the sour pulp of Melotria, many useful trace elements were found. Cucumber has all the substances we need:

phosphorus;
iron;
calcium;
magnesium;
potassium.

In the pulp of melon, scientists have found vitamins important for the human body (B9, PP). Nutritionists have calculated the calorie content of exotic cucumbers, it is 14 kcal per 100 g of the product.

Help. An interesting fact is that the flesh of Melothria is very watery, but the protein content exceeds the classic cucumbers.

African cucumbers are included in the menu during fasting days. Other useful properties of cucumber are used for disease prevention.

Useful properties

Melon pulp contains fiber, which is good for the intestines and the cardiovascular system. You need to use mini-melon daily to feel the healing effect. There are benefits and certain harm from Melotria rough:

Pulp of striped African cucumbers is eaten for cancer prevention;
long-term use of fruits leads to normalization of blood pressure;
People with gallbladder problems have better bile flow.

The main use of Melotria rough is the fight against excess weight. With its help, you can keep your weight normal. Mouse melon fruit quickly induces a feeling of fullness, which helps to avoid overeating.

During the diet, melon can be safely included in the diet, it contains few calories.Nutritionists advise doing two unloading days a week. During these days, the diet may consist of African cucumbers, red peppers and tomatoes. For dressing salads, it is recommended to use kefir, but low-fat. After fasting days, swelling decreases, the work of the gastrointestinal tract improves, constipation does not suffer.

Contraindications

Eating the fresh fruits of Melotria rough is not for everyone. They are contraindicated for people with a sick stomach. Young African cucumbers are eaten fresh. From ripe fruits make blanks. People do not recommend eating pickled melon:

with a sick heart;
with liver pathologies;
with kidney disease;
with atherosclerosis;
with hypertension.

Eat pickled exotic forbidden for pregnant women.

Features of cultivation

When planning to grow Melotria rough, they follow the usual rules for caring for classic cucumbers, the agricultural technology of these two crops is similar. The melon is thermophilic, in the open field it is propagated only through seedlings.

Seedlings

For sowing seedlings take glasses with a volume of 200 ml. A nutrient soil mixture is used as a filler. The soil is moistened, the seeds are not deeply buried, they are very small. The thickness of the earth on top of the seeds does not exceed 0.5 cm.

Create greenhouse conditions for better seed germination of Melotria:

cover the box with melon with foil;
put in a warm place;
choosing sunny windows.

In 3-4 days the first melon sprouts will hatch. We remove the film and when the sprouts reach 5 cm, we begin to harden the seedlings. To do this, we do ventilation using vents. At home, melon seedlings live until mid-May.

Landing

We pay special attention to the choice of a site for mouse melon. Its characteristics are important:

illuminance;
presence of drafts;
predecessors.

We focus on sunny places without drafts. Vegetable crops from the list are considered good predecessors of the African cucumber:

tomatoes;
beans;
peas;
bow.

Bad predecessors for African cucumber: zucchini, cucumbers, squash, pumpkin. Some gardeners sow the seeds of Melotria immediately on the ridge. There is only one plus from this - saving time on growing seedlings.

There are more minuses: late fruiting, developmental delay. If Melotria will be used as an ornamental plant, then it can be propagated by seeds in the ground. In a temperate climate, a hybrid of Melotria rough is grown - Hummingbird F1, landing actions:

when landing on the ridge, follow the pattern 40x40 cm;
immediately install supports in the form of a trellis;
water cucumbers.

Further care like classic cucumbers.

Care

Water Melotria every 2 days. Pour at least 1 bucket onto one bush. Loosen the ground the next day. The absence of a crust on the ground improves the nutrition of the roots. All summer you need to monitor the condition of cucumbers. In case of signs of illness, treat with soapy water.

Urea is used as top dressing in summer. Nitrogen top dressing increases the growth of the green mass of Melotria at times. The first cucumbers will form 14 days after transplanting. At the age of a week, the fetus can be removed. If harvesting is delayed, the crop will lose its commercial value. African cucumber overripes quickly.

Reviews

Reviews best characterize new, unusual plants. After reviewing them, decide whether you need such an exotic as Melotria in the garden or not.

Petr, Donetsk:

“I was surprised when in an ordinary flower shop in our city I met the seeds of an exotic plant Melotria rough. Bought seeds. The goal was to decorate the gazebo. The result was worth the labor of growing mouse melon. The gazebo has been in bright green all summer.”

Elena, Tambov:

"Friends strongly recommended planting an African cucumber. I planted a melon in round holes. I cared for cucumbers. A lot of fruits have grown, but small. I didn’t like the taste, I ate mini-cucumbers on fasting days. They write the truth about losing excess weight, I lost weight. ”

Andrey, Tuapse:

"I planted an African woman with seeds in a hole near a post. The pillar also wanted to decorate a piece of the old fence. All seeds sprouted. He did not take special care: he watered, loosened. I didn't like the fresh melons at all. I added them to marinades and they turned out great. The neighbor ate raw melons and praised me.”