Fig-leaf gourd

Has anyone tried fig-leaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia) before? I got seeds before from Thailand and call them as shark fin melons even it´s not their official name. This is the fourth year with them for me and I have been quite surprised how well they grow here north as they come originally from Mexico region.

They grow huge - can be over 10 meters long and usually make fruits like crazy.



I grow them in the compost beds so they get enough nutritions. Fruits become from 2 to 5 kg.





Good thing in here is that slugs and snails don´t eat their leaves (and at the same time they munch leaves of zucchinis beside of those ones with good appetite).

 

@Saliha mellons I just them...yours look great and the growing rate.

I am surprised like yourself they're growing in your country being a Mexican based food..nice one

 

@Saliha being as you grow them you may find all this information useful on the link

http://www.sipav.org/main/jpp/index.php/jpp/article/viewFile/3128/1800

 

Nice plant to grow, but not sure what I would with the fruits?

 

Yep that might be a problem if there is a lot of them but they stay edible a long time. I still have some from the last year and they are almost as fresh like at the last autumn. In Mexico, they are used also for sweets and in the Far East for vegetable soups. As their fruit flesh is a bit like dried shark fin, that´s why they are called there as "shark fin melon".