Karela / Bitter Melon Seeds - Momordica Charantia - Nutritious & Abundant
Quantity: 6 Seeds
Karela or Bitter Melon, aka Momordica Charantiam, is a fantastic vining fruit in the cucurbit family, cucurbitaceae. The fruits look like warty cucumbers, and have a pleasantly bitter flavour that lends itself well to many dishes. The fruits are extensively utilized in asian countries, and are slowly gaining popularity here in the west. They're a very nutritious vegetable, and can be consumed raw or cooked. They taste great in stir fry, soup, curry, and more. The leaves are also edible and nutritious too. Because of their flavour, versatility, and productivity, these are a favourite here at the homestead.
There are many different cultivars of Bitter Melon; however, this small variety seems to do the best in northern climates. They’re vigorous climbers, and will keep producing fruits on their disease resistant vines until frost. The plants are quite vigorous, and if provided with the right conditions, they’ll grow multiple 10 foot long vines that are laden in fruit. These vines can be clipped back or trained at any time if they become too unruly for your liking.
All Seeds are organic and open pollinated.
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Growing Instructions
For the highest yields, It’s best to start Cucamelon seeds indoors about 2-4 weeks before the last frost; we start them here on the farm in mid march. It's good to sow the seeds in a sterile growing medium; most available seed starting soils should do the job nicely; we use sunshine mix (peat moss and perlite). The soil should be made moist, but not damp. Sow the seeds 1/4 - 1/2 inch below the soil surface. Store in a warm area until tiny sprouts emerge from the soil. A heat mat greatly aids in this step, but is not necessary. Once germinated, the first true leaf or two has formed, and nighttime temperatures don't dip below 8°C, then it's time to transplant them to their final location. For us at the farm, this is around early May. These plants prefer to grow in full sun, and will handle just about any type of soil or PH. The plants are drought, flood, deer, and pest resistant.