Increasingly, on the shelves of supermarkets you can see unusual fruits and vegetables, which are imported from various countries of the world. Despite the fact that such delicacies are prohibitively expensive, they are sometimes more in demand than the usual vegetables and fruits. Today we will discuss the African kivano fruit, find out what it is, how it is used, how it is grown from seeds, how hard it is to grow in your garden.
Acquaintance with an exotic fruit
African cucumber kivano is not for nothing so called, its above-ground green part is represented by an annual liana, which grows in acceptable conditions, occupying larger areas than a regular cucumber. 
Initially, the culture was spread only in Africa and South America, but at the moment the fruit is grown in Western Europe and the Balkans. This is due not only to the fact that more and more people want to diversify the daily diet with unusual fruits and vegetables.
African cucumber is resistant to most pests and diseases, which makes it possible to save on means of combating the latter.
Important! Kivano's biggest drawback is sensitivity to temperature fluctuations and lack of resistance to frost.
First of all, everyone is interested in what is the fruit of an exotic culture. There are many analogies of what the kivano fruit looks like: a small horned melon, a yellow cucumber with needles, even the semblance of closed jaws of a flycatcher plant. 
The biggest difference from the usual cucumber for us is a very thick skin that is as hard to bite through as the skin of a melon or thin-skinned watermelon.
For this reason, many people believe that most of the product after cleaning will go into the trash, respectively, will remain only a small part of the pulp that does not cover the costs.
It will be interesting for you to get acquainted with such fruit bearing exotic plants as momordica, lemon cucumber, loquat, feijoa, guava, longan, papaya, lychee, zizifus.However, it is worth noting that the African cucumber is characterized by good fruiting, so if the fruit is grown for personal consumption, then you should not think that resources and land will be spent on getting a kilogram of edible product as a result.
An important question is what taste has horned melon. Kivano has a specific taste that cannot be identified with any familiar fruit, just as if you first tried a banana and tried to compare it with what it might grow in a vegetable garden. 
Generally speaking, fruits have a sufficient amount of moisture and a sweet and sour taste that quenches thirst well. Having tried it for the first time, you will feel the similarity with cucumber, melon, banana and lime, but each person has his own analogy, so in this case, everything depends on a subjective opinion.
Did you know? The plant is used not only to obtain fruit, but also as an ornamental, planting it on the backyard plots.
Seed preparation before planting
Before sowing, seeds should be soaked for a day in a prepared solution of sodium humate. To do this, we buy in a specialized store fertilizer, which has an identical name (do not confuse with potassium humanity).
You can also use fertilizer "Epin-ekstra", which gives the same effect. 
Sowing seeds for seedlings
Immediately it should be said that it is impossible to sow directly into open ground, even if you live in southern latitudes. Recall that in the spring there can be serious temperature drops, respectively, there is a risk of losing all the seedlings at once.
After the seed has swollen, it should be put in a warm place before pecking for 2-3 days. Although this step is not mandatory, it will increase the chances of germination.
Sowing on seedlings is carried out at the end of April - beginning of May, in order to transfer to the open ground at a time when the temperature does not fall below 10 ° C, and its oscillations do not have a large amplitude. 
To plant seeds should be in the purchase nutrient loose soil. A small single container is used, the diameter of which does not exceed 10 cm.
Important! Landing depth not more than 3.5 cm.
Care of crops
After sowing kivano, we will discuss further cultivation at home.
Did you know? Fruit juice with pulp is recommended to drink during the course of chemotherapy. This will stop the increased hair loss.The first thing to take care of is temperature. When growing seedlings should be maintained at a temperature of 25 ° C with minimal fluctuations. It is also worthwhile to ensure a long light day, however, from direct sunlight it is imperative to shade, otherwise the kivano will have severe burns.
In addition to the above, you need to loosen the soil and keep the soil moist. So you will achieve optimal growth, which further allows you to get a harvest earlier. 
Planting seedlings on a permanent place
Next, we discuss the subtleties of picking African cucumber in open ground. We indicate the best place and consider the bad options.
Timing
Planting is carried out in 3-4 weeks, depending on the speed of growth and development of seedlings. If you are not sure that sufficient temperature will be maintained at night, then dive seedlings under the film or into the greenhouse.
Choosing a place
Kivano requires a large amount of space, as it has accelerated growth and "creeps away" quite quickly. However, like a regular cucumber, it will not be hampered by a support, so that it is easier to assemble products.
Important! Planted under the dense crowns of trees in no case be impossible, since you do not get a crop before frost.Therefore, it should be planted on a flat surface near the grid fence or wall. Leave for planting need a large enough area. In this case, the priority will be exactly a warm, windless place, and not the presence of support.
Landing pattern
The optimal fit is considered such, if for 1 square. m. there are no more than two bushes. The standard picking scheme is 40x35 cm.
How to care for African cucumber
Now let's talk about the care of African cucumber in the open field. Let us discuss the main points on which the productivity of bushes depends.
Watering, weeding, loosening
Watering. Do not think that if the plant is from Africa, it means that it is necessary to “arrange” the Sahara in the garden. In such conditions, the kivano will quickly die, and you will waste your strength in vain. Watering should be at least 2-3 times a week, if it is not very hot outside.
If the sun bakes in such a way that the earth cracks, then we water it daily, checking the soil near the bushes for humidity with a stick or with special electronic devices. 
Consider that watering is carried out before sunrise or after sunset, otherwise the plant will suffer from such irrigation.
Weeding. Be sure to remove all the weeds in the area where the crop grows. Do not forget that for the formation of green mass kivano requires a large amount of mineral and nutrients that pull weeds out of the ground.
Loosening. Loosening allows you to give the roots access to oxygen. It is necessary to conduct it when the earth is covered with a crust. For this, early morning or evening is better suited. During the day you can not do this, otherwise your actions will lead to the evaporation of a huge amount of moisture from the soil.
Did you know? The fruit contains a large amount of ascorbic acid, as well as a complex of other vitamins and minerals. Caloric value of 100 g of products - 44 kcal. This determines the usefulness of the fruit for people suffering from cardiovascular diseases and obesity.
Pinching escape
If you grow horned melon not in the role of an ornamental plant, then nipping is a must. 
Be sure to pinch the side shoots, otherwise the volume of green mass will affect fruiting. We form bushes so that they look like a circle shape or, if so conceived, stretched into one solid line.
Hilling
It is not an important part of care, however, if the soil overheats much during the day, or is just as overcooling as much during the night, then it would not hurt to hilling to protect the roots from overheating or overcooling.
Hilling also helps retain moisture in the soil, which is especially important for southern latitudes, where summer is very hot.
Top dressing
Top dressing is carried out on a mandatory basis, and not only organic matter, but also “mineral water” must be applied to ensure rapid growth and the need for green mass. 
From organic can make the infusion of mullein, chicken manure or grass. Of mineral fertilizers, it is better to give preference to the complex ones, which include the NPK complex.
The mineral fertilizers also include "Akvarin", "Plantafol", "Kristalon", "Kemira", "Ammophos", "Signor Tomato", "Stimulus", "Azofosku".The dressing of fertilizing is carried out every 10 days, alternating organic matter with "mineral water", so that the culture does not have a fast.
Garter
If you use a support, then you can vertically tie up the main stem of the type of bee pollinated cucumbers. So you can put the bulk up, saving space. You can also use a cucumber net, which is great for kivano.
You can do without a garter, but in this case, the vine will take a lot of space, and when grown in a greenhouse without a garter definitely not do.
Harvesting
Fruits begin to collect in August, when they turn yellow. At this stage, they are perfectly stored, but the taste is poor, because they taste like over-ripe cucumber. 
To get the most delicious fruits, they need to be cut at the moment when they turn bright orange. You do not have to wait to collect a large number of fruits at once, as this will slow down the formation of new ones.
After harvesting, "horned cucumbers" are stored for no more than six months without freezing or placing in a refrigerator.
How to eat kivano fruit
Talking about how to grow kivano, it is worth mentioning how to eat this fruit.
As you might guess, the peel is not used for food, which means it must be removed. However, the edible part is so tender that it can’t be separated from the skin like an orange slice. Therefore, the fruit is cut into two parts, and jelly-like "filling" is chosen with a spoon. 
Then it can be salted or sweetened, added to various dishes. If you like the taste of the fruit, then you can use it without mixing with anything.
This concludes the discussion of an interesting "brother" of cucumber, which is advisable to grow not only for sale, but also for personal use. It is worth remembering that all the described rules must be observed to obtain a good harvest, which will differ not only in taste, but also in benefits to the body.
