In summer, with a bit of luck in the weather, we can expect pear melon fruits. But anyone who hasn't experienced a harvest yet asks themselves: When are the purple-striped fruits actually ripe? This plant is still so strange that clarification is welcome.
When is the harvest time for pear melons?
The harvest time for pear melons extends from late summer to early autumn, when the fruits have a sweet, aromatic scent, yield to light pressure and have changed color to yellow or light green with purple stripes. Unripe fruits can ripen at room temperature.
When can fruits be expected?
The flowers of the pear melon, also known as pepino, are fertilized by wind, insects or self-pollination. So the harvest will not fail because of this.
The weather, on the other hand, is the tip of the scale. The temperatures decide whether the plant, which comes from South America, even sets fruit in our latitudes. There will be summers when the yield will be modest or there will be nothing to harvest at all.
- can only leave the winter quarters from 10 degrees Celsius onwards
- to live it needs summers with 10 to 30 °C
- only warm nights allow them to form fruit
- it must be at least 18 degrees Celsius for several nights in a row
Maturation period
The fruits need three months until they are fully ripe for consumption. That's how long you should stay on the bush. In order for ripening to proceed according to schedule, the conditions provided should be as ideal as possible. Above all, a sunny location and permeable soil are essential if you want to harvest richly.
Harvest time
The long ripening period of the pear melon requires a late harvest time. The period extends from late summer to early autumn. Overwintering pear melons have to move into winter quarters when temperatures are in the single digits.
In bad years, the move may have to take place in September. It is possible that not all of the fruit has been harvested or is not yet ripe. You can stay on and move with your plant. Part of the harvest will have to take place in winter quarters.
Tip
Pear melons that are not fully ripe can also continue to ripen at room temperature. Being close to apples speeds up the ripening process.
The Signs of Maturity
Each fruit can be up to 20 cm long and weigh 300 grams. Only pick a pear melon if it also has the following characteristics:
- it smells sweet and aromatic
- gives to light pressure
- the coloring has changed
- is yellow or light green with purple stripes depending on the variety
Tip
A taste test can also provide clarification. As the name suggests, a ripe melon tastes like pears and honeydew melon.
