The Bitter Melon Experiment

They said it couldn't be done, "growing bitter melon in Northern Alberta on a balcony". As far as I know, these are the northern most grown bitter melons in the world. Bitter melon is a subtropical vine grown in Asia, Africa and parts of the Caribbean and easily lives up to it's name as one of the most bitter plants you will ever eat.

The experiment started out by saving and drying the dark seeds of grocery store bought bitter melons and for fun, germinating them on a water soaked napkin in a cellophane covered clear plastic tray. In about six days 90% of the seeds germinated. Then they were transferred into small pots filled with peat (indoors) while there was still snow on the ground in April. Low and behold, the little plants started to take off!

Once the little guys were about 20 cm tall they were transplanted again into the larger pots you see in the photo. The most difficult part was acclimatizing them to being outside given the cold nights (about 4 DEG C). To do this, I would take them inside during cold nights, and even laid plastic over the pots like a mini greenhouse for a few weeks.

Bitter melon plants are monecious meaning they have both male and female flowers on the same plant. Male plants grow at a ratio of about 20:1 over female plants and open for one day then fall off. If there aren't enough insects to pollinate pluck a male flower and rub it on a female flower otherwise it will shrivel and die. The flower in the photo is a female and she is waiting for her man's pollen!

Tips for trying this at home:

• Save the darkest seeds of store bought bitter melon, let them dry and store them in your fridge until use.
• Germinate them on a paper towel in a warm place (preferably around 25-30 DEG C).
• Alternatively, you can sew the seeds in small plastic peat trays and avoid the step above.
• Wait until the plants are at least 30 cm tall and have sufficient root mass before transplanting into a larger pot.
• Take them outside when the night time temperature doesn't go below 10 DEG C.
• Make sure to manually pollinate female flowers with the male flowers, unless you have plenty of bees an insects in your garden.

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