Momordica: reproduction, planting and care

Exotic plants can successfully grow in garden beds if you correctly approach the reproduction procedure and care for them. Such wonderful aliens include momordicacalled Indian cucumber. It has many wonderful qualities - it decorates the site with bright flowers and fruits, creates a net of openwork leaves around the gazebo or veranda. It is possible to grow an ornamental vegetable culture without much effort.

Despite the fact that the liana-like plant momordica came to us from warm countries, it takes root well in areas with a temperate climate. As soon as they do not call the southern culture - Chinese melon, Indian pomegranate or cucumber. Outwardly, the fruits of momordica bear little resemblance to our cucumbers. A similarity will appear if only they are crossed with a pumpkin or melon. It is also difficult to attribute the plant to vegetables or decorative flowers, although parts of it are used for food, and flowers attract with a pleasant aroma.

Content:

• Description of the plant
• Useful properties and uses of momordica
• Reproduction, planting of Indian cucumber
• Crop care recommendations

Description of the plant

About twenty species of herbaceous vines - Momordica can be found in the Indian and Chinese provinces. Young plants sting like nettles. Their thin, curly stems, from two to four meters long, are covered with carved thin leaves. Large yellow flowers are located against the background of bright greenery. They hang down on a long stem.

Momordica has both male and female flowers, so her pollination is always successful.

It leads to the appearance of brightly colored fruits. At first they are green, but as they ripen, they turn into orange berries up to twenty centimeters long, six in diameter. Delicious red pulp of Indian cucumbers - juicy, slightly watery.

Inside there are large seeds in a dense shell, similar to grains grenade... In the pulp of one fruit, about thirty momordika seeds are hidden. Many gardeners want to grow this beautiful, useful plant on their site.

Useful properties and uses of momordica

The exotic plant contains a large amount of B vitamins, trace elements necessary for the stable functioning of the entire human body. An extraordinary vine brings great benefit.

All parts of Indian cucumber are used in folk medicine:

• A decoction from the seeds of the plant can cure hemorrhoids, prostatitis, fever. It is used to improve vision. Dried cucumber seeds are crushed, poured with a glass of hot water and boiled for ten minutes. After insisting for several hours and straining, drink a quarter of a glass of the drug.
• By chewing three to four Momordica seeds before meals daily, you can tidy up your stomach and intestines.
• The roots and fruits for medicinal use are cut into small pieces and dried. The root helps with coughing, as it relieves the course of the disease, having an expectorant effect.
• Fresh leaves and shoots placed in boiling water are effective during the inhalation procedure. And their decoctions relieve pain in arthritis.
• If insect bites cause severe itching and swelling, then the pulp of the fruit, applied to the affected area, will save from this.
• Skin rashes, burns disappear after using compresses soaked in Momordica juice.
• In ancient times, women cleansed their faces with the help of infusions, decoctions of the plant, which made their skin elastic, velvety.

The fruits of the plant are eaten unripe, as bitterness accumulates in them over time. Therefore, bright orange cucumbers will cause bitterness in the mouth, while greenish ones, on the contrary, will give off their sweet juiciness. And the seeds must be fully ripe, otherwise their use will lead to poisoning. All parts of the plant are stewed, added to soups, salads. The juicy pulp of the fruit gives an interesting taste to fermented milk products.

Despite its healing power, not everyone can eat momordica. This applies to women during pregnancy and lactation, people with disorders of the thyroid gland. Especially you need to be careful when using seeds for food, as they can cause intoxication, fever.

Reproduction, planting of Indian cucumber

Liana is propagated seeds, and here the main process is considered germination... The density of the seed coat does not allow seedlings to break through it. It is necessary to destroy the top layer of plant grains in order for the shoots to germinate. For this purpose, sandpaper is used, which is used to grind the shell of the seed. Then the seeds are soaked in a cloth soaked in water, placed in a warm place until the roots of Momordica appear. The method of hardening and disinfection is also used to prepare seeds for planting. You can harden the seed by placing it in the side of the refrigerator for 5-7 days. Soaking in a solution of potassium permanganate will save the plant from diseases in the future.

The next step in growing vines is to plant seeds in pots filled with potting soil. For one small container, two seeds will be enough, immersed with an edge to a depth of one and a half centimeters. From above they are lightly sprinkled with a dry earthen mixture. Cover the pots with planting material with a film, after moistening the soil.

The first shoots that appear need a lot of light, so the containers are placed where there is enough.

There is no need to cover the landings now. For the plant, regular watering is important after the topsoil dries. Feeding tender sprouts mineral complex fertilizers... They are also responsive to watering with mullein solution. The seedlings grow quickly, so they will need a garter.

Sometimes the plant is propagated by cuttings, which are prepared from side shoots in the lower part of the vine:

• A twig with two or three leaves is placed in warm water.
• Two weeks later, the stalk will take root, young leaves will hatch on it.
• Then shoots are planted in a permanent place.

The transplant of Momordica into open ground is carried out when summer weather comes without a noticeable cold snap. The optimal planting time is the period after the flowering of apple trees. A site for a plant is chosen well-lit by the sun.

The soil on it should be loose and fertile, moderately acidic. Fertilizers can be added to the soil in advance. The pits for seedlings should be up to forty centimeters deep, with a distance of half a meter from each other. The transfer method is used during transplantation. For a growing liana, it is necessary to prepare a trellis along which it will curl, catching antennae. The lower crossbar of the support is located at a height of eighty centimeters. As soon as the branches outgrow it, then the top of them must be pinched.

Crop care recommendations

Caring for momordica is not difficult, comparable to caring for cucumbers, pumpkin:

1. Water the bushes abundantly, but without excessive moisture. Watering too vigorously can cause root rot.
2. The leaves of the plant require spraying, which is carried out in the evening using warm water.
3. Space around the vine to keep the soil moist mulch straw, peat or covered with black agrofibre film. This will protect the plant from weeds, sudden changes in temperature.
4. As soon as the Indian cucumber begins to bloom, add the complex mineral fertilizersdiluted in water. Mullein solution is also beneficial for momordica. For this purpose, a glass of manure is added to a bucket of water, the bushes are insisted and watered.
5. For abundant fruiting in a plant, as soon as the first ovaries appear, all side shoots are removed at a height of fifty centimeters from the ground.
6. If the fruits do not set well, then artificial pollination should be carried out. To do this, they take a male flower and apply it to a female one that looks like a fruit.
7. Caring for momordica is carried out with gloves, because before the fruit appears, it can burn the skin of the hands.

The tasty fruits of the plant are harvested two weeks after they appear on the vine. Do not leave them on the bushes, otherwise the exotic plant will begin to weaken. In order for momordica to please with its decorativeness, delicious fruits, you need to properly care for it.

This plant is called a cucumber for a reason, pomegranate, pumpkin, because it combines the wateriness of a cucumber, the color of a pumpkin, a seed similar to pomegranate seeds. It is not difficult to grow momordika on your site. If a weak sprout appears from the seed, then, caring for it, you will turn it into a beautiful vine with bright flowers, delicious fruits. In addition, the plant will help get rid of ailments, make you beautiful.

More information can be found in the video: